


Next time, don't listen to the President

by Starb_uck



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Corporal Punishment, Cylons, Dubious Consent, Extremely Dubious Consent, F/F, Forced, Prisoner of War, Punishment, Restraints, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2018-05-31 06:55:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 31,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6460264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starb_uck/pseuds/Starb_uck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Starbuck is captured by Six after the Arrow of Apollo fiasco, forcibly marched to their base and subjected to an extreme interrogation programme. Being the most evocative symbol of the human resistance, her treatment in the Cylon facility is deliberately designed to ensure maximum impact.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Tags there for a reason. Comments / suggestions welcome. This may go on some time.. the possibilities are endless! Ha.
> 
> My work "Frak the Arrow of Apollo" is a later chapter of this what I can only call a saga... so here is the beginning..

Six bent over the semi-conscious human, not even breathing heavily after her exertions. She seized a handful of her hair, pulling the blonde’s head back to examine her face. Her eyes rolled once and then steadied – she looked at Six with an attitude of pure defiance, despite the blood covering most of her face and continuing to ooze from her nose and split lip. 

Six was delighted. Of all the adventurers the humans could have chosen for this mission, they’d gambled on the indefatigable Starbuck. Probably the one person most likely to succeed, but oh, what a loss for them should she fail! The morale of the Galactica would crumble once the news of her capture broke, and their aerial skill in engagement would fall dramatically without her leading the Viper missions. Oh, the possibilities! 

Her mind ran ahead. Here was the potential for the complete psychological destruction of the Colonial Fleet.. she envisaged regular broadcasts showing the systematic and brutal degradation of their prized pilot. She thought of deals to be offered for her safe return, deals of course to be withdrawn even had the humans ignored proper military strategy for the return of one hostage. She imagined Starbuck speaking on camera, addressing Adama directly, addressing his golden son directly, pleading for her rescue. She could see the fear in her eyes, she could see, she could hear, she could almost *taste the hopeless tears coursing down her face. 

***

She pulled the light restraints from her pack, grabbing the human’s wrists and pulling them up tightly behind her back. She moved with speed rather than with cruelty, wanting to get moving before the resistance happened across them, yet the movement caused the human to cry out with pain. Six ignored her, clamping on the cuffs and tightening them in quick, practised movements. She grasped the pilot’s arm just above the cuff on her left wrist and hauled upwards. The sound came again, a half gasp, half whimper, choked off as soon as it was uttered as the human tried to hide the sign of weakness. It thrilled Six to her very soul. 

She forced Starbuck to her feet and pushed her face close to her ear. She could smell fear; it made her giddy. She slowly licked the side of the pilot’s face, tasting blood and sweat, then nipped at her ear and delighted in her shudder. She breathed into her ear. 

“Now we’re going to walk, do you understand?” 

The response was immediate. 

“Frak you!” 

She twisted away and Six let her go, knowing there was nowhere that she *could go. She managed three steps before stumbling on the uneven ground of the ruined museum. With her arms bound there was only ever one outcome and she fell heavily to the ground, striking heavily with her shoulder and then with her face. That little cry came again, instantly supressed. She lay still, breathing heavily. 

****

Oh, she did enjoy this! Bending in one lithe movement, she grabbed the human by its hair again and yanked. 

"Up, please". 

Growling and cursing, Starbuck managed to regain her feet, staggering slightly and glaring at Six with hate-filled eyes. 

"We can do this all day, if you'd like, Lieutenant". She spun her round and maintained her grip on her hair, just preventing her from falling again. "Now, walk, please". 

She pushed her, lightly, between the shoulder blades. Starbuck took a couple of paces towards the entrance to the museum, then turned, whirling in a last pointless attempt at defiance. Her foot lashed out, catching Six squarely in the midriff. A human would have crumbled at the speed and power of the blow. Six barely rocked. Starbuck cried out in anger and frustration as the effort unbalanced her and she fell again to her knees and forward onto her face, facing away from Six with her butt high in the air. 

She tensed, in the millisecond before the blow came, knowing what was about to happen. The boot caught her squarely in the ass, landing with a meaty thud that rocked her forwards, unable to prevent herself from landing prone, flat on her face on the floor. Again. The first tears of rage and frustration filled her eyes as she felt the long cruel fingers twine once again in her hair and around her wrist. There was less resistance this time as she was dragged to her feet. 

"As I was saying, we can do this all day, Starbuck. Makes no difference to me.. But it does have an effect on you, I think". 

Six traced the cuts on her lip, her cheekbone, her eyebrow. She spun her again, gently, and Starbuck found herself once again facing the open door of the destroyed museum. Her ass ached like a motherfrakker. Another gentle push to her back and the quiet command behind her. 

"Walk". 

Tears now sliding down her face, Starbuck began to walk. 

***

That was a long day, as afternoon dragged into evening, as the shadows lengthened and the night birds began to call, Starbuck walked. Staggered really. It was rough ground, and although fit, she wasn't used to operating without her hands. Surprising, really, she thought dully at one point- you don't realise how much you use your arms for balance, until you no longer have the use of them. She lost count of the number of times she stumbled, and yet her captor somehow always seemed to know the difference between her fake trips and when she genuinely couldn't help it. On these occasions, she was lifted almost gently back to her feet and pointed forward once again. Eventually she stopped falling deliberately, her muddled brain having apparently been trying to slow down the abduction, trying to give the pursuit a chance to catch them up. What pursuit. Pursuit my ass. She simply concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. She was tired, so tired, and yet the implacable machine behind her seemed inhuman. Starbuck laughed to herself grimly. Inhuman. What a frakking joke. 

***

## First day, evening ##

Eventually, when it was almost too dark to see, Six spoke behind her. 

"Okay Lieutenant, stop now". 

Starbuck stopped and stood motionless, head bowed, refusing to think about the implications of her obedience. Obedience, already.. What kind of colonial officer was she? She rudely thrust the thoughts away and tried to concentrate on her breathing. She would not think about what was happening- not yet- she just couldn't. Not yet. 

Six took hold of her arm and gently steered her towards the nearest tree. 

"Sit". Starbuck sat. Still refusing to think. 

"Would you care for some water, Lieutenant?" Six offered her a canteen. 

*Care for. Why can't she just ask do I want some? Do I want some?? Of course I frakking want some! 

She carefully quieted her mind and met Six's calm gaze. 

"Yes, please". 

The words were out before she knew it. She needed water. Her body didn't have any reservations about indignities, or the implications of using the word *please to the Cylon bitch who'd captured her. Her body just wanted water and didn't care how it obtained it. She lowered her head in shame, and so didn't see Six's calm smile. 

The canteen was brought closer. Starbuck could smell the water. She hadn't known it was *possible to smell water, and yet there it was. Amazing. 

She still didn't really expect to be granted any, however, and was amazed when her chin was lifted and the canteen pressed to her lips. She forced her head still further back, amazed, and yet eager to take on as much life giving fluid as possible before this boon was snatched away from her. She rejected automatically the implications of her choice of word- water was a basic right, not a bloody boon. Still, she gulped frantically, not caring about the water splashing down her face and onto her tanks. 

Six allowed her to drink until she was sated. Woods were full of streams, after all, and she needed her fit to travel tomorrow. When she was done, breathing heavily, licking her lips and looking like she still expected some trick, Six reached into her pack and brought out something Starbuck's mind refused to accept. Until her body had to. 

It was a collar. Lightweight metal, it fit snugly around her neck and locked tight. It had a chain attached to it, which Six held in her hand, smiling at her. Her mind screamed no while her body made no sign. Six continued to smile at her. 

"No hard feelings, Starbuck, I can't have you running away in the night, or trying to kill me. Just think, how long would you last, lost in the woods of the planet we've decimated, your very own planet that we've reduced to ashes? With your arms out of action?" She reached forward, motioning to the dry ground at the base of the tree. "Lie down". 

Starbuck just stared at her, not refusing, just unable to comprehend what was happening, how she'd found herself here, in this place. She was Lieutenant Kara Thrace, she was Starbuck, hero of the Viper squadron, of the fleet. She was here to get the Arrow of Apollo, to get the symbol to help the fleet find earth. She was going to be a hero. This was just another mission. How could this be happening? 

Six looked at her, raising her eyebrows. There was no threat of violence, no blow this time. There wasn't even any overt threat of a blow, and yet the threat was there. Implicit. 

"Starbuck?" 

She said it quietly. It wasn't a question. Starbuck lay down in the dried leaves at the base of the tree. Her mind tried to yammer at her and she told it to be quiet. Six fastened the chain around the base of the tree, leaving Starbuck six inches of leeway. Enough to raise her head, but not enough to sit up. Six stroked her cheek, gently. Starbuck stared straight ahead. At a leaf. It was a very pretty leaf. 

"You see, if I die out here, you die out here, Lieutenant. And we can't have that. I can be reborn, but you can't. And you're very precious to us, believe me. We need you somewhere safe, as soon as possible. And I'm going to make sure that happens". She stroked Starbuck's cheek once more, then moved further away, out of reach. 

"I'll be right here, Lieutenant. Just call me, and I'll come". She smiled slowly, a smile full of dark meaning, and lay down herself. She did not move again that night. 

Starbuck looked at the leaf until it was too dark to make out its patterns any more. She drove her mind away every time it tried to get her attention. She looked at the leaf. She did not even think about the possibility of sleep until at last, utterly exhausted, it claimed her.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the move through the countryside outside Delphi. Starbuck hears some shocking news, and makes an important decision.

## Second day, morning ##

The birds woke her. For a moment she lay still, listening, calmed by the peace of waking naturally, on a planet, to the sound of birds and the feel of the soft morning sun on her face, instead of hearing the strident tones of the wake up call or the blatting klaxon of the alert sound. Then she shifted, and immediately pain roared through her. Her whole body ached, and her arms wouldn't work. Had she been in an accident? Had she pranged her Viper? The Chief was gonna kill her.. 

She whimpered, tried to move her head and came up short with an insistent pressure on her neck. She froze as she remembered. *Gods, no.. Moving just her eyes, she saw the nightmare was true. The tall blonde woman was sitting casually, knees drawn up but loosely apart, against the tree under which she'd spent the night. She'd been fiddling in her pack with something, but on spotting Starbuck's movement, had stopped and was now smiling at her sweetly. 

"Good morning, Lieutenant. I trust you slept well?" 

Starbuck said nothing, gazing at Six, still struggling to believe that the nightmare was real life, and was still going on. 

"I'm glad you're awake", the Cylon continued, rising to her feet with infuriating grace. "There's a few things I want to attend to before we move on". 

*Enough with the polite already, Kara growled in her mind. Wondering how far away she'd been from a boot in the ribs. 

Six reached Starbuck's side in a few easy steps and knelt to remove the restraints from her wrists. Starbuck gasped as the metal pulled against sensitive skin. She guessed she was pretty cut up back there, but she couldn't see and so it didn't matter. Also, there was a bit of pain but mostly she was numb. Numb was better. Although.. She gasped again as cool hands seized her arms and began chafing, forcing the blood back into her numb hands. It hurt. Oh gods, it hurt. She cried out for real now as the pain began to come in waves, great blinding sweeping waves of drilling agony. The frakking Cylon wouldn't let her go though, wouldn't stop, just kept murmuring nonsense at her, words like *there there and *everything's going to be alright" and *ssssh now, Starbuck". As if anything would ever be alright again. But, gradually, the waves of pain faded, and Starbuck found her gasps of pain fading off. Her heartbeat slowed. Her arms felt like they were her own again. She tentatively tried to see them and, although it briefly brought back the pain, she was able to bring them to her front and hold them together in her lap. It felt like such a luxury. She looked at her hands and felt bright tears threaten- she forced them back. No time for that shit. Her wrists were a mess - bright red weals where the cuffs had dug in, seeping blood in places. All that being dragged up when she'd fallen on purpose. When she'd fallen deliberately, trying to slow down the abduction and give any pursuit a chance to catch them up, she had been yanked viciously back to her feet, screaming at the biting, wrenching pain in her wrists and shoulders.

Six's voice came from very far away, echoing her thoughts. "They'd be a lot prettier if you hadn't fought me so much, Starbuck". 

There wasn't really any answer to that. Starbuck kept her eyes on her hands. There were bruises all around her swollen wrists, coming up good and black. She couldn't quite believe that these abused pieces of meat belonged to her. 

***

Six approached, carrying the pack and the refilled canteen. She brought out what looked like a medkit. What in the bloody hell does a Cylon need with a medkit?? Starbuck's mind yittered at her as her captor knelt beside her and gently began washing her abused wrists with cool antiseptic wipes. Starbuck yipped and jerked away involuntarily; Six just smiled and carried on. After all, where could the good Lieutenant go? When the wounds were cleaned, Six smeared on some antiseptic cream and then carefully wrapped cotton bandages around her wrists. 

"There, you're all set" she said, and smiled right at her. There was love in that smile. What in the name of holy frak was *wrong with these people? Kara forced back the retort. She was hoping for more water. She was not yielding, or bargaining, she told her mind firmly, she simply needed more water. And maybe some food...

***

As it turned out, she got both. Just basic hard rations, biscuit and a little dried fruit, but much as she'd responded to the water, Starbuck could feel her body welcoming the nourishment, gathering it in greedily and even at that moment making pacts with her brain, the brain that housed her will to resist, attempting to ensure that more food would be forthcoming. Six even allowed her to attend to her bodily needs and to wash up a little in a nearby stream. Under strict supervision, of course. Starbuck didn't even consider trying to run, and shut her mind down firmly when it asked why not. *No, brain. Not now. 

***

After attending to her hands, and using the antiseptics to cleanse the cuts and abrasions on her face and other parts of her body, Six bent to unlock the chain. She removed it from the tree and from the other end, leaving Starbuck wearing the collar alone. Like an animal. She wanted to protest but her traitor body refused her. 

*So tired, it said. Can't. Exhausted. Maybe later. 

She lowered her eyes and gazed at the pine needles covering the ground. Gods, if she'd only known that resisting would be so damned hard... She'd always thought she'd be the toughest of them all, the hardest to break, and yet now..

Six smiled privately, interpreting much of Kara's frantic internal thought processes. *No, dear, you're not even anywhere near broken. We've got a long way to go, and plenty of fun ahead of us, before we get to that point. Aloud, she merely said "Care for some breakfast, Lieutenant?".

 

## Second day, morning, afternoon ##

The day continued much as the first had, only this one was longer. Even allowing for the ministrations of the morning, they were still on the move well before the sun was high. And kept at it all day. Starbuck moved automatically now, obeying the quiet instructions from behind her, feeling perversely refreshed from the food, water and medical attention. Basic human rights, not boons!! Her mind chittered at her, and she closed her ears to the voice. Was this a survival instinct, or was it giving in? She didn't know, and didn't really care. Living for the moment, just getting through each moment, because the bigger picture, she was sure, would drive her insane. 

The hardest part had been after she'd splashed out of the stream, feeling an absurd mixture of shame and gratitude, and Six had met her with a syringe of anti-radiation meds. "Can't have you getting sick on me, Starbuck. You're very important to us, you know. Very.. *special". She gave Kara that particular smile that already made her shiver. 

After she'd gritted her teeth and suffered the injection, she heard a sentence that her brain simply refused to accept. Not at first. Disbelieving, she turned to see Six holding out the cuffs. The cuffs from yesterday, and last night. She was more than well acquainted with those cuffs, and part of her mind had already consigned them to history. They'd been taken *off, her mind yipped. *The nasty Cylon might've put them on me, yeah okay she did, but then the nice one took them off, right?? And then she helped me, she made it stop hurting! She wouldn't make me.. She wouldn't put them.. Would she?? 

Six locked gazes with Kara, looking ever so slightly quizzical. 

"I said, wrists please, Lieutenant".

 

## Second day, late afternoon ##

In the early evening, Six directed her to stop in a pleasant grove of trees by the banks of a small stream. Starbuck looked at her, confused by the order. Last night she'd been forced onwards relentlessly, driven like an animal until it was so dark that she could barely see the ground in front of her. She'd gotten a sense of urgency from her captor, a sense which seemed to be missing now. As if reading her mind, the blonde woman explained.

"We've made excellent time, Starbuck. We're well out of the resistance areas now, so we can ease up on the pace a bit". She smiled at her. "Didn't know there was such a thing as the resistance, did you? Good thing you didn't, or you would've tried to call out to them, wouldn't you?" She moved closer and put her hand to Starbuck's cheek. 

Starbuck jerked her head away, staring at her captor with horrified eyes. Resistance? She hadn't even known there were any other humans left alive on this planet, let alone that they'd formed a resistance movement against the Cylon occupiers!! Gods!! She closed her eyes in horror, unable to comprehend the magnitude of the chance she'd missed. If only she'd yelled, if only she'd screamed!! Someone might've heard her.. Someone might've saved her. She might be sipping bush tea in some underground bunker by now, holding the cup in *front of her because she would be *free and would have the use of her hands... She might be planning attacks on Cylon strongholds, looking at maps, discussing strategies and escape routes with other people just like her, other humans.. Instead, those people didn't even know she existed.. And now here she was, every hour, every day, being forced further and further away from where they were, further from any faint hope of rescue. How could she have been so stupid? 

"Of course," Six continued, "You could also consider it a good thing for you that you didn't know about them, that you didn't try to call out. Or I would've had to gag you, and believe me you wouldn't have liked that". She ran her hands through Starbuck's dirty hair and smiled into her face. This time, Starbuck didn't pull her head away. 

"I know how hard it's been for you, the last couple of days. As I said, I've had to push you fairly hard, but you've done very well indeed. I'm proud of you, Starbuck. Now we can relax a bit, take it easy. Have some... fun". She continued to soothe Kara, running her hands repeatedly over her hair as if quieting an animal, enjoying the stunned look on her face. She moved to touch her nose, gently pushing at the swelling caused by a couple of well placed blows. Starbuck winced. 

"I don't think you can breathe too well through this, can you Lieutenant? Just imagine what yesterday could've been like, yesterday when you were still fighting me, if you had to try and breathe through it as best you could, because you had no other choice, because I'd taped your mouth shut?" 

Starbuck stared at her, this vivid image cutting through her shock. Saw herself choking on the ground, unable to get up, unable to draw air into her abused body, helpless.. She thrust the picture away with a visible effort. The Cylon bitch was still talking. 

"And as you may have already come to realise, lieutenant, I don't do things in half measures. If you'd forced me to gag you, not only would those pretty lips have been taped shut, you'd also have been choking on a pair of my used panties shoved right in behind them". 

She spoke these words mildly, calmly, as if they made perfect sense, stroking Kara's cheek, forehead, tracing the line of her just-parted lips. A beat passed, then another. Then Six patted her face slightly harder, both cheeks at once as if to break the spell of the moment. 

"So it's lucky for you that you were a good girl and didn't scream, isn't it?" She turned and walked away, looking at the sky, checking out the surrounding area. 

Kara still stood motionless, still stunned by what she'd heard. Stunned by the news of the resistance, the chance she'd missed and the punishment she'd narrowly avoided. 

*Wasn't like her to avoid a punishment, some small part of her brain observed wryly. A part that somehow still managed to retain a sense of humour. Usually she managed to fall head first into any difficult situation there was going, couldn't keep her mouth shut, couldn't fake respect for senior officers even if she had none- and as a result was usually in hack one way or another. But this picture Six had just painted for her.. She just couldn't get it out of her head! Flashed again to the image of her choking on the ground, drowning on dry land, completely at the Cylon's mercy. No!! It couldn't happen!! 

*It could, though. Traitor Brain spoke up. *It really could. And she said it herself, now she doesn't have to push the pace so much, she'll have more time to think up creative punishments for you, ones that don't require you moving forwards, moving anywhere for a while... 

Dimly, through her horror, Starbuck recognised the probable truth of this. Next time she disobeyed an order, or sassed her captor, or tried to escape, she was liable to find her vision of humiliation and suffering coming true. That or something equally unpleasant. There was really only one thing she could think of. Although she had no idea how she would manage it, she knew that she had to try. The fact that she now knew that there were other humans still alive bolstered her, gave her fresh hope. If she could get away, at least there's be somewhere to aim for, somewhere to go, people who would hide her and protect her while she recovered her strength. 

*Unless she lied to you.. 

Kara pushed the thought away. That way lay madness, and if she gave in to madness she was finished. No. She was determined, now. She raised her head. Had she but known it, some of the old Starbuck defiance filled her eyes and showed in the new jut to her jaw. Somehow, she had to find a way to escape. 

***

The cuffs were off and the subsequent screaming was over. Starbuck wasn't sure which was worse, the unbearable interminable agony of the blood coming back into her abused limbs, or the dejection, pain and misery she felt each time they were locked back into place on her bruised wrists. 

She sat at the edge of the stream, morosely bathing her swollen wrists in the cool water. She had to get away- had to, before her mind and body were broken down any further. Also, she had no idea how much further they still had to go- any time from tomorrow she supposed it was possible they'd reach their destination. Kara shivered. That destination was something she couldn't even bring herself to consider right now. One nightmare at a time, Thrace. Don't court trouble until trouble courts you. Oh, but trouble already bloody well *had courted her, hadn't it? Pretty much rewritten the book on trouble, this time. 

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Where was the Cylon? Looking round covertly, she caught a glimpse of blonde hair at the edge of the trees. What was she doing? Looked like she was trying to fix up some kind of signalling device, maybe a long range radio transmitter. Maybe trying to contact her skinjob buddies. Whatever. Her back was turned. And suddenly Kara had an idea. Her arms were free, and pretty well recovered. Well, as recovered as they ever got, in her new enforced existence as a prisoner. Her neck was free- well, again- as free as it ever was, now. The thrice-frakked collar was still firmly in place, an ever-present reminder of her subjugated existence, but it wasn't attached to anything. She was free. She laughed internally at her newly revised definition of freedom, even as she surreptitiously checked on the Cylon again. Still looking away, still busy. Good. So why wait for an opportunity to come along later? Okay, she'd only just now formulated her plan to try and escape, to join up with the human resistance, but still- she may never get a better opportunity than this. If indeed she ever got another one at all. Okay then. This was it. 

Her mind made up, Starbuck got to her feet as quietly as she could. Slowly, quietly, she inched towards the trees.

***

Six had planned this, of course. Given her the news of the resistance, freed her hands, given her the opportunity to make a break for freedom while she pretended to be otherwise occupied and looking the other way. Now that they were out of danger, she was happy to spend a little time playing with the human. Cat with mouse. There were professional reasons too, of course, and these were the ones she'd put in her official report of the mission. Reasons such as ensuring mental degradation kept apace with physical breakdown. Reasons such as reinforcing the knowledge that resistance was pointless, that escape was impossible and that such attempts were subject to extreme penalties. All good, valid points. Not that the others would care either way what she had done to the human on her forced march back to the Cylon base- she was being driven inexorably towards her own torture, interrogation and subjugation, after all. But it was better to do these things properly, Six mused. She grinned to herself as she finished planning the final details. 

As for the personal reasons, well.. Kara Thrace wasn't the only one who couldn't get a certain image out of her mind.

***

When she was a certain distance away and could no longer see the stream, Kara began walking more quickly. The stream gave her a rough point of reference, and she used it as best she could to try and retrace her steps. She walked faster and faster, and soon broke into a shambling run, hands held up before her to ward off the branches that clawed at her face. Even the very woods seemed determined to stop her. This is my world, bitch.. she thought incoherently. It should be on my side, not yours.. She was running flat out now, panic threatening to overwhelm her. She knew she ought to be trying for stealth, listening for any sounds of pursuit, but she just couldn't help herself. Forcing herself onwards in her desperate desire to put as much distance between herself and her tormentor as possible.

She was just beginning to hope against all hope that she'd pulled it off when she stumbled over a tree root and fell hard, headlong into a damp ditch full of mud and wet leaves. Gasping, she pushed herself to her knees...and stopped, frozen with horror. Her mind repeated one word, on a screaming whirling loop- No no no no no... Directly before her were two black boots. She knew those boots. She'd seen them close up on many occasions. One of them had connected soundly with her poor abused posterior.. she still felt absurdly outraged at this particular memory. Being kicked in the ass..it was so..so horrendously *undignified, somehow. Her aching butt a constant reminder of her new place in this new world. 

She raised her eyes, travelling up long legs encased in black leather, past a black shirt covering a toned midriff, barely containing generous breasts, over exquisite collarbones and a delicate throat, and finally up to the face of her captor. She couldn't look for long at the expression she saw there, and quickly dropped her eyes again. The floor. The floor seemed safest.

Six spoke first. "On your feet, please Starbuck". 

Starbuck briefly considered refusal, decided there really wasn't much point. She'd made her play, had her shot, she'd gambled and lost. There wouldn't be another chance. She got to her feet painfully and stood upright, keeping her eyes on the floor. She sensed rather than saw Six reaching into her pack and bringing something out, something Starbuck hadn't seen before. Some device of some kind.. The Cylon turned it over and without hesitation pressed a switch. 

Starbuck screamed. The collar was suddenly filled with agony, a bright burning brand of pain wrapped tight around her neck. She clawed at it, staggered. The pulse came again and again she cried out. Again. She was on her knees now, still tearing uselessly at the collar, trying to free herself from this horrendous pain. Again. She looked up at the Cylon above her, who was standing calmly, watching the writhing human with dispassionate interest. Again. 

Starbuck's eyes were screwed tightly shut as she fought to control her agony, her face contorted with the pain. She opened her mouth, struggled to form words, eventually managed to stammer out the old classic, timeless phrases. Words Six never grew tired of hearing, although if she asked herself seriously, she'd have to admit that she found torturing this particular human one of the most rewarding and interesting experiences of her life to date. 

"Please...please stop... please..".

***

Six sat on the ground, legs crossed, and waited for Starbuck to recover. Once she'd stopped shaking and her breathing had returned to something approaching normal, the Cylon held up the device. Kara flinched, but steadied herself. Six's eyes were cool, her face expressionless. Kara thought faintly that the woman had never terrified her more. 

"As you can see, there's a little surprise I've been keeping for you. It's a pain collar, Starbuck. A very useful device, we've found, in keeping you humans in line. Its value lies not only in its capacity to induce physical punishment, but also as a preventative measure. Kind of like Pavlov's dogs, you see. Or, speaking of dogs, like those training collars your kind used to use to control your wayward pets. Only the electric pulse is far stronger. Once you're wearing one, and once you know what it can do, you're far less likely to try anything stupid. The collar is a constant reminder of the pain, you see. The more shocks you have, the less likely you are to do anything to risk another one". 

Without warning, she pushed the button again. Starbuck screamed, soundlessly this time. Her fingers rose again to the collar, frantically trying to pull the metal away from her skin, trying to pull the hated device from her neck. Six laughed cruelly. 

"I wouldn't bother trying, Lieutenant. As I've told you before, it's important to do things properly. I think I’ll make you wear that collar for the rest of your miserable life. Who knows, eventually you may even come to like it". 

Starbuck stared at her wordlessly, her mind a mad whirl. Far too many thoughts to even begin to process any of them.

 

## Second day, evening ##

Back in the clearing by the stream. All the ground she'd gained, gone. All thoughts of escape pretty much gone, too. All hope.. 

She was naked and tied to a tree. 

*Naked and tied to a tree.. How in the name of all the Gods could this be happening to her? 

Her arms were above her head, wrapped round the tree trunk she was facing and lashed together with thin rope. She wondered dully why Six hadn't used the dreaded cuffs and decided she didn't really care. She'd be seeing them again soon enough, she was sure of that. The thought brought a tear to her eye. Her wrists were tied together over a branch above her head, making it impossible for her to slide down the tree to the ground. If she lost her footing, she'd simply hang there, suspended like a marionette. She didn't know what Six had planned for her, but she was pretty sure that she'd be losing her footing at some point in the proceedings.

"You do understand that you have to be punished, don't you, Lieutenant? You've caused me an inconvenience, to say the least, and you need to be taught *never to do that". The silky words came from just behind her, raising the hairs on the back of Kara's neck. "Believe me, you won't like me when I'm.. inconvenienced". 

Frak it... thought Starbuck. She had nothing left to lose. 

"Frak.. you.." She ground out. "Didn't like you much to start with". 

Six laughed delightedly. "Oh, that's good, Starbuck!! That's very good indeed!" She put her hand on the back of Kara's neck. Kara flinched away from the touch and her face met the rough bark. 

"Anyway..", the pilot continued, twisting her head to the side, "you've already punished me for running. This.. this *frakking thing on my neck.." She couldn't bring herself to say the word *collar. She flinched involuntarily, remembering. 

Six laughed behind her. The silky sound sent shivers up and down Kara's spine. 

"True. In that case, have it your way. The pain I inflicted on you by way of your collar was your punishment for running. This".. The hand gripped the nape of her neck, forcing her to turn her head, forcing her face against the tree. "This, you may consider a training session. Your lesson for today.." She pushed harder, mashing Starbuck's split and swollen lips against the bark, smiling as she heard her whimper, "Is that you should never, ever, piss me off".


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath of Starbuck's escape attempt.

Third day, morning

Kara sat in a pool of sunshine. They were still in the clearing by the stream. Six had declared today a rest day, and that, more than anything else, made Starbuck think that there was no chance of rescue, that the resistance was nowhere near them. She sat quietly, head bowed, staring at nothing in particular on the floor. Her arms were free, but Six was nearby, and Six had the controller for the pain collar. Starbuck entertained no further delusions about getting away while her back was turned- hell, the Cylon bitch seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. Probably did. Anyway, Kara reflected sourly, she wouldn't need the frakkin' collar to subdue me.. I was no match for her when I was fresh, and I sure as hell ain't now. She sighed. At least when she was plotting escape or resistance, she didn't have to listen to her brain, telling her aaaall about what she could expect when Six finally hauled her in front of the other Cylons. 

Last night had been dreadful. She winced, moving from side to side. She thought about moving position, but really every position she was in hurt like hell, now. Still.. she eased herself forward so she was taking most of her weight on her forearms, her head touching the ground. There. That was better. She refused to consider the spectacle she was presenting, on all fours, like the dog the Cylon bitch seemed intent on turning her into. She even had the collar to consolidate the image. She sighed again. At least this position took the pressure off her abused ass and back. She figured if Six wanted to come up behind her and kick her in the ass again, she was welcome to. Kara didn't really give much of a frak, one way or another. 

Her attempt at escape had ended in abject, unmitigated failure, and she knew now that the human resistance were nowhere within reach. She might as well give up. Except.. somewhere, some small part of her within refused the concept absolutely. Even now, now that that majority of Kara's conscious thought agreed wholeheartedly with the whispers that she should capitulate, stop fighting, accept the inevitable, that tiny part of her prevented her complete and utter subjugation. It would cause her future pain, of that she was sure, but then again her entire future was composed solely of pain, of suffering, of brokenness. She knew, deep down, that that small part of her, the essence of her, the essence not of Starbuck but of Kara Thrace, would continue to fight this Cylon and in the end fight against all her skinjob buddies, and against all the Cylons in the universe, fight with everything she had. Fight with everything she had until the end- because, in the end, that was all that she had left. 

She was clean, her wounds bathed and disinfected. Six had carried her bodily into the stream and attended to her. Kara hadn't resisted, hadn't moved a muscle- she hadn't moved at all by herself since last night, late last night, when Six had cut her down from the tree and carried her to where she'd set up a mattress of springy heather-like vegetation. She'd been laid across it, and Gods, it felt so good just to lie still, to be at peace. Her own screams still rang in her ears, but she refused to listen and instead tried to concentrate on the night birds calling her to sleep, singing her a lullaby. Her body was in flames, but she was drifting away, listening to the birds, imagining the stars above her, those beloved familiar stars of home. 

Six's voice spoke from somewhere above her, pulling her out of her reverie. 

"Kara? I made you some food, real food. Would you like some?" She sounded hesitant, almost unsure, and Kara realised two things almost simultaneously- firstly that it was very rarely that Six asked her a question, gave her a choice rather than issuing commands or instructions, and secondly that this was the first time that she could remember that the Cylon had ever called her by her name. 

She remained still, on all fours, head hanging to the floor. Bizarrely, she didn't want to upset her abductor, to reject her advances. And not simply to avoid the punishment which would surely follow, but because she didn't want to hurt the damn woman's feelings. Gods. She was one seriously frakked up individual. She smiled wryly to herself and forced herself upright onto her knees. 

Six stood before her, holding a small metal can. Steam rose from beneath the clean cloth draped over it to keep in the heat. Kara could smell it, good smells, wholesome smells- some kind of stew maybe? She licked her lips involuntarily. They'd both eaten nothing but marching rations, dried meat, fruit, biscuit, foil packs of rubbery cheese, for days now and she was suddenly seized by a maddening hunger. Her stomach awoke and clenched with an imperative.. *Want.. Get... It'd been hard going, too, burning off the meagre calories almost as soon as they'd been ingested. Starbuck had already had to beg a length of twine from the Cylon to tie up her pants. Without it they'd been in danger of falling down around her ankles with every step she took. 

With her curiously worried expression, Six looked absurdly like a suburban housewife, terrified she's gone and cooked the wrong thing for the big boss man's visit. Kara's heart gave a queer twist in her chest. She refused utterly to examine the reason why, or question why she suddenly felt like she had to protect her abuser's feelings. She smiled. 

"What is it? Smells good". Six brightened, smiled at her. When she smiled, her whole face lit up. Kara couldn't help but smile back. 

"It's rabbit. I learned the basics of woods skills when I was planning for this mission, but I never thought I'd get a chance to try hunting, and then when I saw the warren and set a few traps I never thought I'd catch anything, and then when I did I suddenly realised I had no idea how to cook them.." She babbled on, nervous and shy as an intern on her first day at work, and Kara felt that clench in her chest once again. She felt an absurd desire to go to the Cylon, hold her close and kiss her to make her shut up. *Gods.. What is *wrong with me?? 

She grinned instead. "Well, certainly looks like you're a quick learner. What else is in there?" 

And Six was off again, holding the pannikin in both hands while she stared anxiously at Starbuck. "Well, juniper berries are in season on your world, and they're supposed to go very well with rabbit, and then there were some leaves that my files say.."

Frak it. Again with that *nothing left to lose thing- except this time it appeared sometimes, just sometimes, there were positives to the approach. She got to her feet, still smiling. Six was still in full flow as she approached, something about it being the wrong time of year for the nuts she wanted, when Starbuck reached her and stopped her mouth with a determined kiss. Six oofed under her mouth, but Starbuck had a wide mouth, a full smile and a determined approach - once she was locked on, few people had the capacity or the inclination to break free. Six stood still under the initial contact, frozen, then after a long moment of disbelief, began to kiss back. Her lips were warm, pliant, tender. The kiss lasted for long moments, during which there was no sound in the clearing, no movement barring that of the birds in the trees above. Kara brought a hand up to trace the line of her jaw. She broke the kiss gently, pulled back and looked Six full in the face, smiling. 

"It smells incredible. It'll be great to have some hot food, some real food, after all this time. Except..." 

"Yes? What is it? What's wrong?" Six asked, the uncertainty instantly returning. 

"Except it'll be cold by the time we eat it if you don't stop frakking about".

***

They ate by the still-burning embers of the cooking fire. The stew really was good, and Starbuck felt wholly involuntary tears spring to her mind at the effort Six had made to do this for her. She shook herself mentally. She had to stop this, and stop it now. And yet.. it was so much nicer not being at war with the other woman (with her captor, with the woman who'd beaten her into a bloody mess, beaten her until she could barely stand, her mind firmly reminded her). She was so tired, mentally, physically, emotionally. She just wanted peace, she wanted love, she wanted caresses rather than blows. 

So sue her. There was no one out here to judge her. The implications of her actions and decisions fell on her and on her alone. She looked up at Six across the dying fire. The Cylon sensed her gaze and returned it, still with that strange uncertainty. She gave a tentative smile which Kara returned in full measure. She set aside her empty can and leaned around the fire, reaching for Six's hand. 

"That was a lovely meal. Thank you, thank you for doing that for me". Six looked at her closely, almost disbelievingly, yet found no guile in Kara's open stare, enigmatic half smile. She responded with a wide smile of her own, and reached across the gap between them to take the other woman's proffered hand tightly between both of her own. 

 

## Third day, evening ##

"Kara, can I ask you a question?" 

There it was again, that strange mood, the one in which she called her Kara and gave her choices, instead of situation normal wherein she called her Lieutenant to humiliate her, and gave her bruises. 

"Shoot", she said, and smiled at her.

"Have you ever had to do this? Ever had to hurt someone, to punish someone, not only because those were your orders but also because deep in your heart you knew it was the right thing to do?"

Kara's smile faded. She didn't like to think about her current situation any more than she had to. She looked down at her hands. Right now, at the evening campfire, she was pretending that this was just a normal camping trip. That any minute now someone would show up in a squeal of wheels and a flash of headlights, bringing shouting and laughter and crates of beer. If she carefully forgot about her collar and didn't look at her wrists, it was easy enough to do. 

"Yeah. Yeah I did, once".

"Would you tell me about it, please?"

She'd rather not. Isn't one of her finest memories. But, introspective mood or not, she senses that Six isn't going to let this one go... and she doesn't want to break the mood and have retribution fall on her own head. She told the story.


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starbuck tells her story

"It was in the officer's rec room, on Galactica. Well, it started in the racks, actually. No, i lie- it *did start in the rec.. Well, if you want to be strictly accurate it started on the mission. I was.. ummm.. we had.." 

Great. This was a great start. Starbuck, the epic spinner of tales. She tried again, avoiding Six's eye. 

"We'd just finished a pretty successful mission, pulled off a pretty great plan, a plan drawn up by yours truly, may I just add.. Took out two baseships by hiding in this nebula and sending out a fake signal. Toaster bastards never knew what hit them..." She stopped, suddenly remembering who she was talking to. 

"I mean, sorry..." *Sorry?? 

"It was pretty risky, so when we got back to the barn we were all pretty hyped, and.." She stopped again, peering warily at the other woman's face. 

She hoped like hell she hadn't blown it, talking about blowing up Cylon ships, calling them toasters.. how stupid could she get? She really hoped her slip wasn't going to earn her a beating, or worse. The Cylon smiled at her. 

"Kara. Stop worrying. I just want to know about what happened after the mission. I don't care what you did, or how many of my people you blew up. That is in the past, and if it happened at all then it was part of God's plan. So would you please stop frakking about and get on with it already". 

Kara smiled, both at her choice of words and in relief that she was off the hook. 

"Right. So, we were pretty rowdy, you know, jumping about, shouting, drinking.. someone brought out a stash of really nice ambrosia and we all went at it pretty hard, and I started a drinking competition with this cute new guy from one of the other ships, and one thing led to another, and me and him ended up dragging each other back to the racks, giggling, holding each other up, y'know, and I put a sign on the door, pulling rank, well, pulling Starbuck- it told them all to stay the frak out as I was on official business. And then we.. well, we got down to unofficial business, and it worked, the sign kept them out, even the ones that must've come back with similar plans of their own must've gone and found somewhere else, and..."

"Kara", Six spoke quietly, sternly, a small glint in her eye betraying her amusement. 

"Right. Sorry. Just setting the scene. So anyway, we're busy in my rack and all of a sudden the door opens! I mean, I couldn't believe it. Nobody should've dared to ignore my note!! So I yell out to whoever it is to get the frak out, and there's this silence where there should have been a horrified apology and a scramble for the door, so I'm like, I can't believe this, and then I hear this woman's voice, and she's this new pilot they've dug up from somewhere a while back, had commercial flying experience and she actually was pretty good. So good that she'd got her damned promotions and was now a Lieutenant like me. Which pissed me off, even though I hadn't really had a chance to get to know her yet.. Princess, her callsign was. Guess that tells you all you need to know. 

But after what she'd just said I was thinking to myself that that was gonna change, right now. She'd said that she was just gonna grab some of her stuff, that she had a right to do so. A right! Not on my ship, in my group where I was undisputed Top Gun. I was raging. I hauled the curtain aside, didn't care about what was on show, I was that mad. Told her that she'd better get her ass out of there like yesterday or i would have to show her how we teach respect to nuggets on Galactica. 

"I'm not a nugget, Lieutenant", she said calmly, using my rank to, y'know, remind me that we were the same grade, which only made me madder. 

"You are to me, nugget, until you've proved to me that you even know which end of a Viper is which. Now get the frak out". 

She stared at me, not moving, and I could see her jaw clenching. She was mad, not frightened, not respectful like she should've been. Something in me was pleased to see it, know what I mean? 

*Six smiled a private smile. She knew what Starbuck meant, alright. Didn't she just. 

"I was like, I've had my frak, and I was planning on having another one, but hey, maybe I'll have me a little fight instead. So I get up, buck naked, and ask her again if she's going, and she says nope, she's going to get her things. And that's it. I lose it. I told my frak buddy to grab her, thankfully he'd been putting on his pants while I'd been talking to her, or we might've come up on charges, anyway, I tell him to grab her and she says "What the frak is this??" In this really surprised tone of voice, and I'm thinking you just wait, bitch, you'll find out just what kind of frak this is.. 

Anyway he does what I say and grabs hold of her arms, I outrank him and anyway he'd do anything I told him to do, they all would. Comes with being Starbuck, and Galactica's Top Gun. Something this nugget needs to realise. So I tell him to take her back to the mess hall, and while he's doing that I quickly throw on some clothes and follow them. She's fighting him determinedly but not calling out, which pleases me, tells me that she's gonna keep this in house, that she understands we have our own code of discipline amongst pilots, and that some transgressions are dealt with by the group alone. Even the CAG sometimes doesn't need to know. So we get her back to the hall, and most of the crew are still there, still hyped and rowdy but now with a skinful of ambrosia to loosen them up. A roar of approval goes up as Princess is pushed through the door. It's not that she wasn't liked, far as I could tell she was one of the guys, fit right in, y'know? So it wasn't that they had anything against her.. it was more the pack mentality, I think. Their blood was up and they wanted some fun, and poor Princess had been cast into the role of the victim. 

I explained the situation to them, said that we were going to decide if she was guilty, and then take action as appropriate. They yelled approval, banging bottles and mugs on tables. She was standing still now, not fighting anymore but staring at me with what looked like contempt. Damn, that made me angry! So I grabbed her arm and spun her into a chair hastily placed in the centre of the room. I placed two guys outside as sentries and assumed my role, sitting cross-legged on a desk right in front of her. Someone handed me an empty bottle to use as a gavel. We were ready to begin.

Well, of course the kangaroo court found her guilty of insubordination. She tried to argue at one point that she couldn't have committed any insubordination as we were the same rank, but she was shouted down by roars of disapproval from the jury. I smiled- they were all saying the same thing, but all talking at once. I pointed at Hotdog. 

"Mr Costanza, would you care to explain?"

"Yes Sir. Starbuck is our Top Gun and as such has certain privileges. Any disrespect afforded to her can and will result in severe penalties. Sir".

He spoke in deliberately clipped, military tones, faced pointed straight ahead. He was acting the part perfectly. I smiled and inclined my head. "Thank you, Hotdog. Excellently phrased". 

I turned back to my victim. "I trust this refutes your objection?" I asked her sweetly. She didn't answer, just tossed her head angrily. 

"They all learn this rule, when they fly with me. Don't you?" I asked the room, raising my voice. A roar of agreement answered me, with more banging of bottles on the tables. 

"But you.. you haven't learnt it yet. Don't worry. I'm going to teach it to you tonight". Still she said nothing. I held her gaze for a moment, then banged my own bottle on the desk. 

"Order!!" Gradually the hubbub died down and the room became silent. "If nobody has anything further to add, no more evidence for or against the accused, I am prepared to pronounce judgement ". 

Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Princess sat like stone in her chair. 

"Excellent. I hereby find the accused guilty of all charges laid against her". Mock cheers from the gallery. "I sentence her to punishment by the strap, which I will administer personally". I paused. The next bit was unusual, even for our Kangaroo Court air group rules. But then she'd really, *really pissed me off. 

"I will not impose a minimum number of strokes on the guilty party- instead the punishment will continue until such time as she sees fit to apologise to me, personally, in front of this court". Uproar broke out, excited comments flying around. Everyone seemed totally buzzed on this though- it was harsh, but frak was it exciting. I banged the bottle down again.

"Will the defendant please rise!"

The defendant chose not to rise, so I motioned to two officers of the court to bring her to me. That flat look of contempt was still on her face. I was really looking forward to beating it out of her. I hopped off the desk, loosening the belt from my pants. I gestured, and the two guys laid her over the desk. I hoped it was still warm from my ass, I thought, as they pushed her face into the surface. Little bit of extra humiliation for you. *Princess. Someone tossed me a set of restraints, and I quickly used them to lock her wrists to the legs of the desk. She still hadn't made a sound, struggling grimly but silently against her confinement. One guy remained leaning on her back while I reached under her to unsnap her pants. I pulled them and her standard-issue briefs over her ass and down her long legs. 

Still she didn't make a sound, the room quiet apart from her harsh breathing. I looked forward to breaking that stubborn silence. I pulled her lower garments from her completely and bent to use the belt from her own pants to fasten her left leg to the leg of the desk. She tried to kick me, striking out blindly behind her. Her audacity enraged me. I stood back up, delivered one sharp kick to the back of her knee. She gasped in pain and the leg went limp. Better. Smiling thinly, I bent again and secured the useless limb easily. The other leg was easy, someone throwing me another belt to finish the job. Her legs were spread apart now, presenting me with the beautiful sight of her slightly parted taut and helpless buttocks. 

Her ass was white and looked very vulnerable in the harsh lighting of the mess hall. I laid my hands on her ass cheeks and squeezed gently. She bucked and gasped at the violation. 

"So you see, Lieutenant, that we have our own brand of justice on this ship. Is there anything you'd like to say to me, before we start? Remember, as soon as you apologise to me and admit you were wrong, this stops".

I knew what her response would be before it came. I was glad to hear it. I wanted to lay into that pretty white ass.

"Frak... You!!" she spat the words out. 

I smiled. "As you wish. Ladies and gentlemen of the court, let it be noted that the prisoner has received a fair trial. Sentence has been passed and will now be carried out". I took two steps back from her. She was squirming, pinned helplessly over the desk with her ass high in the air. It was a beautiful sight. I wrapped the strap around my wrist and brought the doubled leather down on her with all my might. 

***

She really was a stubborn one. It took five blows of the strap to get any sound out of her at all, and that faint gasp, immediately suppressed, was more due to Starbuck laying the last two strokes in the same place in very quick succession. She carried on, trying to repeat the trick, but the woman remained mulishly silent. *you will break, bitch, Starbuck promised her silently. *you will break, and you will beg me, and everyone is here to see it. 

***

"Want me to take over for a minute, Sir?" 

The voice was eager. Kat had been in this young woman's position, more than once. Starbuck was amused to find her eager to give out some of the punishment she was more used to receiving. She paused for a moment, breathing hard and flexing her striking arm. She rested one hand on the woman's back while wiping the sweat from her forehead. Her victim, too, was breathing harder than normal, and a faint shaking was visible in her shoulders. Starbuck felt the first grudging respect for her. She'd taken a lot more than Kara'd expected she would, and as yet hadn't broken. 

"Thanks Kat, but we're good here", she replied, not turning her head or taking her eyes from the restrained woman. Her back was warm beneath Starbuck's palm. "See, thing is, this is between me and her". 

She moved her hand slowly down the woman's back, towards her ass. The slight trembling increased almost imperceptibly and Kara smiled. She laid the strap down for a moment and laid both palms flat on the woman's red buttocks. They were pleasingly hot. She could feel as well as see the individual strap marks which she'd been careful to apply so as not to break the skin, but which were nonetheless very much present and correct. She squeezed, kneaded gently. The woman groaned beneath her, and Starbuck laughed. 

"Tender back there, is it?" she crooned to her. There was a general laugh from the room. Grinning herself, she turned to face them. 

"Don't think this is gonna take too much longer now, folks. Gonna have us a screamer any time now". The room erupted with ironic cheers and applause. Laughing herself, Kara turned back to the task at hand. 

***

"So I kept hitting her, and I kept talking to her, mocking her, and I realised that combining the two approaches worked far better than either one of them would have done alone". She stopped, staring into the campfire. Six said nothing, staring across at her, listening with her chin propped on her hand. "It didn't take long, after that", Kara finally continued. 

***

It must have been around the thirtieth stroke when a wavering sound came from the captive woman face down on the table. Just a faint, drawn out moan. She was cracking, Starbuck thought with satisfaction. She grabbed a fistful of her victim's hair and hauled her head back, wanting to hear that noise better. 

The woman's eyes were screwed tightly shut, her whole face screwed up, trying to deal with, to cope with the pain without screaming. Kara grinned and pressed down hard on the woman's rosy red ass with her free hand. Not expecting the sudden change in assault method, she wasn't prepared to deal with it at all, and it surprised a shriek of pain from her. Gasping, she bucked under Starbuck's hands. A cheer went up from the room. Starbuck alone heard what she thought was a faint sob, carefully choked back. She bent closer, whispered in the woman's ear so she alone could hear. 

"Come on, Princess. Break for me. You've proved your point, proved it a long time ago". 

Nothing came from below her, only stubborn silence. Starbuck gave it one last shot. 

"They'll respect you if you break now, if you ask me nicely, apologise, beg me to stop. You've taken enough .. They'll respect you for this- hell, *I'll respect you for this if that means anything to you at all". 

Still nothing but silence, from her victim beneath her and from the viewers in the chairs. Starbuck sighed, picked up the strap and stood back. The viewers leaned forwards. They seemed to sense that this little drama was heading towards its conclusion. The captive woman moved in her bonds and tensed her body in preparation for the next blow. Kara looked down at her and felt a curious pride. Time to finish this. 

***

No more talking, no more pausing. Starbuck swung that belt relentlessly, with an implacable rhythm. She really felt she could go on all night if she had to. But it didn't take long, after the restart. Maybe that one choked cry had opened the floodgates. Maybe it was the final realisation that Lieutenant Thrace really did intend to beat her unconscious if she didn't say that she was sorry. Whatever. Two or three strokes in, her mouth opened again with another rasping cry. And another. And another. Now she was crying out with every blow, and finally she gave in completely. 

"Please, Sir... please stop.. please Starbuck, I'm sorry..."

***

"Tell me what she said to you".

"Hmmm?"

"Tell me what you made her say to you, when you finally broke her".

"Oh, you know, the usual.." she broke off, realising that in all probability this creature had never been on a human star ship, and even if she had, would certainly not be well-acquainted with the finer points of etiquette of military communal sleeping arrangements. 

"I, uhh.. made her apologise for coming in there in the first place when I had that sign up on the door, and then I made her apologise for not getting the hell out when I first told her to, and then she had to apologise for arguing with the court and then for taking so long under sentence to realise the error of her ways.. Oh, and she had to kiss the strap I'd used to beat her, and thank me for educating her, and apologise for making my arm hurt.." 

She stopped, remembering with a certain amount of shame. The last few days had taught her an awful lot about shame. She ran her hand across her face. 

"Basically I made her apologise for everything she'd done that evening, every action she'd taken, every decision she'd made. I kept her tied to that table for at least half an hour after the beating was over, until she'd grovelled to my complete satisfaction. I had to stop myself... she was so utterly helpless, so completely mine, that I could've forced her to apologise for everything she was, everything about herself, beg me for my forgiveness simply for being herself. But I didn't". 

She stared at Six, who was smiling at her with love in her eyes. "I couldn't do that to her. The others would never have accepted her, never respected her again if I'd done that. So I stopped. Thanked her for all her apologies, and made her thank me for her educational experience. I made sure she called me Sir all through the entire scene. And then I chased all the others away, told them to frak off for a bit, I didn't care where, just get out. They got out. Nobody even moaned or complained, which was a damned miracle in itself.."

"They were probably afraid they'd find themselves stretched over that table next, hmmm?" Six observed wryly. 

She stretched, her spine crackling as she got to her feet. "You did the right thing, Starbuck. It is an enormous responsibility, owning someone that completely. You have to stay in control, so you know how far you've gone, and when you should stop".


	5. 5 (Frak the Arrow of Apollo)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fourth day of Starbuck's forced march - some stormy weather..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my other work Frak the Arrow (which forms part of this and which I posted when I wasn't sure if I was going to post this whole longer thing at all) - sorry for any confusion caused. About to post next chapter straight after..

Fourth day, afternoon, evening

Late on in the afternoon of the fourth day of her captivity, Six again called a halt. Kara no longer felt like a human being, more like an abused machine, forced to run on and on with no hope of relief. Her back hurt, and her ass hurt, but then again all of her hurt, really. Two thoughts, and two thoughts only, ran on a loop in her brain: Maybe we'll stop soon and Maybe she'll take the cuffs off tonight.. Occasionally a brief variation on the second thought popped up: She can't keep me in them tonight.. She can't.. Please..

A traitor thought spoke up in her mind- her body and part of her brain seemed to be conspiring against her, creating some kind of mutinous organisation that argued for capitulation to the Cylon, that threatened to overthrow her will for resistance. Maybe you should ask her.. Ask nicely.. Use that word you just thought of... You know the one.. We all learn it in school and at our mama's knee when we're being taught our manners...

NO. She would not. No further. She would grit her teeth and take what was damn well coming to her. Like an officer of the Colonial fleet, and like one worthy of the name. Starbuck gritted her teeth and stumbled on.

There was still light in the sky when Six pushed her towards a rough stand of pines against the weathering sky. Looked like a nice opportunity to make a better bed than they’d had so far? Part of her mind asked the question. The older part. The pre-this part. The newer part, the Kara of the last four days, Prisoner Kara, Captive Kara, Helpless Kara, responded faintly but clearly. Who gives a frak. Whatever. Six either had similar thoughts, or similar woodsman skills, or the ability to read minds, because she gave Starbuck an odd look before gesturing to the floor in the middle of the clearing. Starbuck sat. Again. Was glad to be allowed to do so. Six broke off several stands of branches and layered them up under the overhang of the trees. Working then onto the bigger stuff, she built a rudimentary woods shelter, big enough for the two of them.

"Gonna rain tonight, Starbuck", she offered, weaving smaller branches in and out of the main frame to increase the rain resistance. She paused and turned to the pilot, panting slightly in the oppressive afternoon heat, the closeness before the storm. She dropped to her ass and sat there, cross legged, arms loose across her spread knees. She was the picture of the hard workin' man, at the end of a long day at the factory, lookin’ forward to a cold beer. Her hair was sweaty and plastered to her face. She looked cute, nice- not like the complete psycho murderous Cylon nutjob who'd attacked, assaulted, abused and abducted her. She grinned, holding Kara's eyes.

And Kara found herself grinning back. Some horrified part of her mind protested hysterically, yet was silenced when thunder cut the sky overhead. They both flinched involuntarily, then again caught each other's eye. Kara laughed. She felt like she might be going insane. She'd always thought, if you were going insane, surely you wouldn't know it was happening? Wasn't that, almost, part of the attraction? Now she could feel her mind rippling- not bending, not breaking, not tearing, just creaking a little under the unexpected strain under which it now found itself. From across the clearing, Six spoke. She sounded as uncertain as Kara had ever heard her.

"If you want to stay dry, you'd better come here now, Lieutenant".

Advice, not an order, not an instruction, not a demand. Kara filed that away for later inspection and struggled towards the shelter. Six caught her arm and pulled her close. Another blast of thunder rocked the sky and this time lightning flashed too, almost simultaneously. Rain began to fall. Kara fell to her knees in the entrance, grunted and couldn't catch her fall. Funny that, what with being trussed like a damn turkey after all. Fell on her face in wet pine needles. Six hauled her inside, as gently as she could. They were both just inside when the skies cracked again and rain began to fall in waves, hammering down on the rough shelter. Kara gasped, lying on her back with her arms twisted painfully behind her, looking up at the sky where the lightning cracked like shards of broken glass across a fragile, broken skin of sky. She shivered. The rain fell harder. A voice spoke, close to her ear.

"It's okay, Lieutenant".

Gentle hands moved her, turned her. The blanket of needles and branches beneath her was soft. She felt safe. Bizarrely, she felt almost sleepy. Warm arms surrounded her. Warm lips pressed into her neck. She felt an entirely incongruous pulse of sexual heat and bit back the urge to moan. The arms pulled her closer, a leg crossed over hers. She felt safe. Enfolded. The lips kissed her neck, wet against her dry skin. She couldn't help it. She moaned, moved in pleasure. The arms surrounding her stilled. A sigh of amusement filled the air, a soft chuckle. Kara tensed, summoning the dregs of dignity, of self respect. She moved to twist away, but met the wall of branches. Really, where was there to go?

Outside the thunder cracked again. Inside, the languorous arms moved tighter, drawing her back in. One snaked between her bound arms to her buttocks, pushing beneath her pants and kneading insistently at her ass. She felt herself lifted slightly, propped on top of the Cylon's body. Felt her breasts, hard and firm beneath her. Felt her heat. She couldn't pull away. She couldn't help it. She moaned again. Felt the Cylon's hand stroking her hair, stroking her face in the darkness. Outside the lightning cracked again and for a second or two Kara looked right into the Cylon's face. And saw again that look of love. She couldn't help it. She felt drawn down, towards those lips. She was in them, they were on her. She was drowning and gods, it felt so good!! The hand was still massaging her ass cheeks and now it moved, pulling back and round and under and she knew what was coming and moved to stop it but then the other hand was in her hair, pulling her head back gently and the mouth was on her neck and on her throat and then on her mouth again and she forgot how to breathe, let alone how to say stop. When the fingers pushed again under the belt of her pants and touched her, she bucked almost joyously and groaned. How in the name of the gods could this feel so frakking good??

Six laughed again against her neck and then resumed rhythmically sucking, biting, kissing, forcing Starbuck quickly to a peak and keeping her there,right on the edge. She hauled the pilot's pants down and moved so that the bound woman was lying full on top of her, shifted her legs to hit the floor between hers thus simultaneously preventing her from rising and giving her something to push herself against. She removed her fingers from Starbuck's clit eliciting an anguished moan as her captive moved helplessly against her.

"Sssshh, Starbuck.." Six whispered into her ear. "These are yours.."

She held the pilot slightly up and away from her body, allowing her to feel the tips of three fingers against her opening. Starbuck groaned again and pushed. Starbuck was most decidedly not thinking about anything right now. Six held her off easily.

"Now now," kissing Starbuck's neck, not gently- Six's ravenous blood was up too by now- "Ask nicely".

Starbuck growled- the first one since the scene in the museum. She attempted to force herself onto the proffered fingers. Six stopped her effortlessly and she moaned in frustration. Another wet, sucking lingering kiss. Starbuck was a pushover at the best of times. She was no match for this master. Six pulled her lips away.

"I said, ask nicely".

"Gods!!" Starbuck groaned. "The frak're you doing to me.. Alright.. Okay.. Please.. Okay? Is that enough? Will you let me now? Huhh? Will you.."

Six plugged her rambling mouth with another deep kiss. It wasn't enough, that was obvious.. And yet there was plenty of time in which she could get enough. Of exactly what she wanted. And this would do for today, would do for tonight. She angled her fingers correctly and released her grip on Starbuck's thigh.

"Come on then, Lieutenant" she whispered in the pilot's ear- and Starbuck obediently forced herself onto the awaiting digits, skewered herself onto them, trying to burn off all the hatred and fear and anger of the last few days. Six, who had so far done all of the work, now did none of the work; allowing Starbuck to screw herself on the implacable pinnacle of the Cylon's raised fingers. She hadn't planned to, but when she heard Starbuck's whimpers coming closer and closer together, her thumb seemed to reach out involuntarily and seek out her clit, providing just enough pressure. Kara came explosively, hard, just like Six had always imagined she would. Her aftershocks lasted a long time, during which she lay heavily on top of Six. To be fair, for several reasons, there wasn't really a lot else she could do. Eventually Six shifted her, moved her onto her side, facing the wall. Her arms enfolded her once more. Kara was crying, softly, trying to hide it.

"Sssshh.." The murmur came deep into her neck, under her hair. "Sssshh.. Sleep now".

"But what about.. Can't you.. My.. You..."

"Sssshh... " Six soothed her, gently, easing her down into sleep. She'd had another long, hard day, with an explosive end, and it didn't take long. Kara quieted, stilled, slept. Six lay wakeful, enjoying the feeling of the beautiful, fragile, frail human in her arms. So vulnerable.. So.. *breakable.. Sure, she was horny, but again, there was plenty of time for that. Plenty of future.. *occasions. For now, there was only sleep, and peace for a while. Peace against the storm.

Fifth day, morning

Starbuck woke quietly, to full realisation of her circumstances, without the striking fear of the previous day. Gods!! What had this woman (No!! This *thing! This *machine!) done to her?? The thing was watching her, smiling slightly. Did it never frakking sleep?

It was still raining. She could hear the patter of drops on the outside of the shelter, yet it was remarkably cosy and dry inside. She felt snug. She felt sated. She felt.. Safe. Except for the fact that her arms were still bound, and she was, she knew, despite last night, still a prisoner. She'd somehow turned in the night and now lay, cuddled up body to body with the Cylon. She said nothing, simply stared into her captor's eyes. She felt absurdly anxious.

Six broke the mood. "Frakkin' planet of yours. Rains all the time".

"Funny, that. It never used to do it before you toaster freaks nuked the frak out of it and wrecked the atmosphere".

Starbuck eyed the Six carefully, awaiting her punishment for the smart comment, figuring it worth it, all the same. She didn't expect the reaction she got. Six, lying beside her, arm tucked carefully around her waist, merely chuckled quietly.

"Fair enough. Racist phraseology aside, I guess that's a pretty accurate assessment".

Starbuck lay quiet. For the first time in her life, and quite understandably, for the last few days she'd really found herself with not all that much to say.


	6. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six takes her bad mood out on poor old Starbuck.

## Fifth day, afternoon ##

Six looked at her for one long moment more, then patted her on the shoulder. "Come on, get up. We need to get moving". 

The rest of that day was hard. Starbuck knew how it was going to go; the tone was set almost the moment she'd struggled to her feet. Six performed the usual necessities brusquely, coldly, almost angrily- moving Starbuck roughly about to ensure the necessary tasks were completed as efficiently as possible. There were no niceties today; almost as soon as Starbuck's aching arms had stopped their shrieking and her whimpers had subsided, Six was holding out the restraints once more. 

Starbuck didn't understand her change in mood, but knew that now wasn't the time to question it. She simply dropped her head, turned and held her wrists out together behind her. She therefore missed the tender, almost longing expression on her captor's face as she moved forward and gently, almost reluctantly, fastened the cuffs onto her prisoner's freshly-bandaged wrists. 

Starbuck bit back dumb tears. How stupid to think last night could've changed anything. Her keeper was a damned Cylon after all.. she should have known better than to expect human reactions, human emotions from her. She stood motionless, head bowed as Six packed up their basic camp. She waited for orders. She moved when she was told to do so. She turned left and right as ordered. She moved as well as she was able and when she fell, she tried not to call out more than she could help. She sensed that today was not the day to push her captor. 

That day dragged on interminably, the sun seeming to take perverse pleasure in taking the longest time possible to haul itself across the sky. Six seemed to be in a hurry again, perhaps concerned about the lost day, perhaps somehow having received a message from the base they were heading for. Starbuck moved as if in a dream, trying her best to think about absolutely nothing at all. There was no thought whatsoever of defiance or resistance; she simply wanted not to be hurt, not to be abused that day. 

 

## Fifth day, early evening ##

Her nose was clearer now, and she wasn't too worried about not being able to breathe- she thought that she'd be fine as long as she didn't panic- and yet still she fought this particular horror with everything she had. Six had had to punch her in the stomach to still the worst of her initial struggles, then sit astride her, pinning her shoulder blades with her own knees and hauling back on her hair with her left hand. 

With her wrists, as always, tightly locked behind her back, and thus in this position pinioned excruciatingly beneath her, that was really the end of the fight, as if there had ever been any fight in the first place, and yet still she squirmed, bucking and twisting to get away from the approaching article, her gaze switching frantically between it and Six's face. She screamed, the depth of her rejection rendering it almost soundless. 

Six was implacable. Starbuck had been asking for this. It want as though she hadn't given her fair warning.. she'd described the ordeal that was about to happen in great detail to her previously, and had privately thrilled to the depth of Starbuck's obvious fear that it ever would. It had always been simply a matter of time though, really, she thought, as she rummaged in her pack with her free hand. This particular punishment was a personal favourite of hers; the physical discomfort compounded by the very real fear of suffocation by lack of oxygen, and by the degradation imposed upon her by the materials used. 

She retrieved a roll of duct tape and the panties she'd removed at a brief stop a few minutes before, when she'd finally decided that the time was ripe. Speaking of ripe.. she brought the underwear close to her nose and sniffed, holding Starbuck easily in place as she squirmed beneath her. She wore fresh ones every day, like a good fake human should, washing them out in streams as they passed, but still- they'd been travelling hard all day, and Six had remained in a state of constant low-grade arousal, caused by the luscious physical and emotional reactions of the human, and by the actions necessary to restrain, control and reprimand her. The panties were beautifully fragrant, and soaking wet. 

Starbuck's eyes were on them continuously now, her chest heaving and her struggles redoubling as she finally realised that Six was serious, that she really intended to go through with this. Her cries had tailed off as she put all her efforts into getting free. Fat chance. 

Six tore off a few strips of tape and stuck them to her thigh, ready for use. Starbuck eyed them and her eyes rolled in her head. One final sound as the balled-up panties descended towards her face, a brief plea for clemency.

"Please, don't..." She clamped her mouth and her eyes shut then and turned her head away, as far as the fist curled tightly in her hair would allow her. 

Six sighed, aloud- pretending exasperation- how long would this human continue to resist her, resist the inevitable? Privately, she continued to be delighted by Starbuck's will to defy her, to make her work for each little piece of ground she gained, for every little inroad she made into breaking Kara down, body, mind and soul. 

She reached down with the hand previously restraining Starbuck's head, and seized her nipple, pushing down through the neck of her tanks. No attempt at dragging this bit out- she simply seized, pinched and twisted as hard as she could. The human cried out, a long drawn out cry of desperation, pain and suffering. Six stuffed the panties into the open mouth, abruptly cutting off the cry. She worked quickly to wedge them all the way in, pushing at the last folds of material to force them past Starbuck's lips. She choked once, coughing with a muffled sound. 

Her eyes found Six's, and they contained a peculiar mix of shame, fury and resignation. Probably because she'd known, ever since Six had told her about this particular punishment of hers, that it would more than likely happen to her at some point. Starbuck did have a tendency to suffer most punishments in life, sooner or later. Her face was swollen, forced out of shape by the wedge of material in her mouth. Tears and sweat covered her face. Six tsked. 

"Now how am I supposed to get tape to stick to your face, if it's covered with God knows what sort of goop, huh??" 

She smiled at the impotent rage that now surfaced on the Lieutenant's face, and used a rag from her pack to roughly wipe it clean. She kept one hand over the human's mouth, keeping the panties firmly in place, although Starbuck had pretty much stopped resisting. Her eyes rolled out of focus, like a frightened animal. Which is, of course, precisely what she was. 

Six smiled fondly as she carefully placed the first strip of tape over Starbuck's mouth, smoothing it down gently to a perfectly smooth finish. She applied two more as well, even though they weren't strictly necessary. When she'd finished, the human was limp and motionless beneath her, struggling finished for the day. Her eyes were cast down. Six patted her cheek, not exactly gently, but with nowhere near the power of some of the slaps she'd given the pilot in the past. 

"Wakey wakey, Lieutenant! Are you hoo-ome??" 

The light mockery returned some of Starbuck's rage and she glared at her captor, helpless beneath the gag. 

"How does that taste for you now, Lieutenant? Hmmm? I did my best to get them good and wet for you, all day. I hope you appreciate my efforts". 

Starbuck gave a strangled cough, and made another unidentifiable sound though her nose. She screwed her eyes up to contain her misery, but Six observed one rogue tear escaping the barrier and trickling, slowly, down her face until it encountered the black tape on her smooth cheek. 

It was a very long time before she was allowed to rest that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter - Starbuck finally gets to meet the other Cylons.. lucky Starbuck! Oho.


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The journey is over - Starbuck meets the other Cylons and starts to think that maybe 'her' Six isn't so bad after all...

## Sixth day, mid-morning ##

There appeared to be a reception committee waiting for them. As Six steered her out of the trees, across a low ditch filled with rubbish and across a flat expanse of crumbling asphalt, she could see buildings straight ahead. Looked like it might've been a military base of some kind before the invasion. The buildings formed an angular U-shape around a large courtyard. There were many people in this courtyard, and even in the depths of her terror and despair, she recognised that a lot of them all looked the same. 

"Not much variety among you folk, is there?" she muttered, panting as Six hauled on her arm to hurry her up. Beside her, Six smiled. 

"Quality over quantity, my dear Lieutenant. Besides, who needs variety when you have already achieved perfection?" 

Starbuck snorted derisively beside her, but Six let it go. She was looking forward to seeing the others again. They were all watching, watching the finale to her oh so successful mission, watching her drag Starbuck the final few steps to their destination. The others moved as one when they finally arrived at the courtyard, forming a rough semicircle. Starbuck was hauled into the centre. She refused to let her panic show. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen- she couldn't do anything about that, but she could ensure that she didn't piss her pants, beg for mercy or do anything equally embarrassing. She stood quietly, Six's hand still on her arm. She felt an almost imperceptible squeeze of approval and felt absurdly comforted. A honey blonde Cylon stepped forward. Starbuck eyed her warily. She looked mean, and dangerous. She moved to Six, ignoring Starbuck completely. She embraced her, holding her face in both hands and smiling widely. 

"Welcome, sister! We've missed you! But you've returned, and it seems your mission was a success!" There was a murmur of greeting and approval from the crowd. Starbuck saw several other Sixes in the crowd, and looked at them curiously. None of them were exactly identical, but she guessed that was just the clothes and the hairstyles. She wondered if she'd be able to identify *her Six once she'd gone out of sight. She suspected not.. and wondered why the idea bothered her so much. The new Cylon's voice broke into her thoughts, pulling her back to her surroundings. 

"And so this is the famous Starbuck, hmmm? Not quite the mighty warrior we'd been led to expect, is she?" 

The crowd gave a low murmur of amusement, taking in Starbuck's battered appearance, her bound arms, her tired and weary expression. The woman reached out to take her by the arm, pulling her away from Six. Their gazes locked for a moment, and Six seemed to be trying to send her a message. Reiterating what she'd explained in the forest, just before they left the tree line. 

*Just try to be strong, Starbuck. I won't be able to stop it, they'll be too angry and they'll want their pound of flesh. But they won't kill you, I promise you that. You're too valuable to them. And I'll come to you as soon as I can...

Now Starbuck wished that she'd thought to ask how the frak she'd recognise her again, how she'd ever know if it was really her. 

*You didn't even get one good mark on her, even back at the start when you got at least a few good blows in, did you? Couldn't even manage that. At least if you'd marked her eyebrow, or scratched her face, at least you'd know for a little while that it was her...

But no. Look at her, not a scratch on her. But you.. Kara stilled her inner voice with an effort. She couldn't see herself but she had an idea of the image. She winced as the woman pinched her arm and moved her closer to the watching crowd. 

"You've met some of us before, I think, yes? I've not had the pleasure personally, but I believe you met one of my sisters on your ship? I'm a Three..." 

She moved Starbuck along the front row of spectators as she talked, introducing her as if they were at a frakking cocktail party. 

"This is a Two, now I know you've met *him, previously..." the crowd growled its displeasure, "and this is a Four, and a Five, no Ones here at the moment I see, they're a bit snooty sometimes I'm afraid, but never mind, you'll meet them soon enough.. oh, and look! Here's some Eights! Isn't that wonderful! Now I *know you've met one of these before!" 

Starbuck stopped and stared disbelievingly at the women before her. They stared back, stony-faced. They were...Sharon. Starbuck's mind reeled at the revelation. The others.. she had to warn the Commander about Boomer! Aloud, she gasped and pulled away instinctively. The Three gave her arm another good pinch reprovingly. 

"Now now, Starbuck. That's not nice! Just when we're all just getting acquainted with one another!" 

*Gods, she hated this bitch already. Hated her mocking tone, hated her 'we're all pals together' approach. She knew pain was coming, was inevitable, she'd rather just get on with it rather than go through this stupid charade, not knowing when the boot would go in. 

Three pinched harder, increasing the pressure until she cried out in pain. The Three smiled and turned to Six. "It's a stubborn one, isn't it! Did you have much trouble with it on the road?" 

Starbuck sensed her Six *her Six?? out of the corner of her eye, but refused to look at her as she replied. 

"Not much at all, after the first day. I have to say that overall, apart from one minor blip, she's been very cooperative". 

*I didn't frakking cooperate! Starbuck's mind screamed. *i didn't, I really didn't. You just made it impossible! You never gave me a chance! 

"Well I think you've done remarkably well, bringing back this.. specimen. I think it's going to prove extremely useful to us". The Three smiled again at Six. 

"Now go, get some rest, have some proper food. You've certainly earned it! I'll catch up with you later on, but the official debriefing can wait until tomorrow, I think". 

Six nodded, looked again at Starbuck. Starbuck refused to make eye contact. Smiling nervously, Six backed away, still watching the pilot. The crowd applauded her in muted tones, continuing to do so until she entered the sand-coloured main building behind her. The door closed and the sound cut off with it. The courtyard was suddenly very quiet. 

So this was it. Time to find out what you're made of after all, Thrace. She set her jaw, firmly told herself to stop trembling. 

"So", said the Three, pleasantly, from close beside her, "I thought it best to remove that copy for the duration of this.. initiation. You seem to have built up quite a bond, as captor and prisoner, which is quite delightful, and we'll certainly use that at some point in the future, but right now I want the rest of us all to experience your reactions afresh, without them being tainted by the memory of what may have gone before". 

Starbuck swallowed. She was surrounded by more 'people' than she had been in days, and yet now that her Six was gone, she felt strangely alone. And extremely vulnerable. The Three raised her voice. 

"Do we all want to see the human prisoner in its natural state?" 

A mutter of agreement came from the crowd. The Three stepped forward, seized Starbuck roughly by the wrists and jerked them savagely upwards. Starbuck cried out sharply and staggered forward. Six hadn't been this rough with her in days. The Three unlocked the restraints and removed them, making no effort to go easy on Starbuck's tortured wrists. Belatedly, she realised how Six had, almost from the first, tried to be as gentle as possible when applying and removing the cuffs. The Three let go of her arms, giving her a contemptuous push forward. Starbuck fell sprawling on the dusty ground. 

"Get up", she heard dimly from above her, but couldn't obey, because now the waves of pain were crashing down onto her, and Six wasn't here to help her, to rub her arms and help force the blood back into her hands, and she'd never done it by herself, didn't know if she even could.. She screamed then, unable even to bring her arms to the front of her, unable to do anything at all apart from writhe in agony on the old paving stones of the courtyard. The boot caught her in the meaty top part of her thigh and she would have cried out, if she'd had any breath left. The voice of the hellish Three seemed to come from a very long way above her. 

"I said, get the frak up, you stupid, useless piece of shit". The boot connected solidly again, this time in the area of her kidneys. 

Gods.. She tried desperately to bring her arms before her. Couldn't do anything without that, couldn't do anything until the waves of pain stopped... she flexed her roaring arms as much as she could- was it possible? Yes, the waves were receding. She'd done it. And on her own, without the help of her Six. She felt absurdly proud of herself. 

A boot caught her in the side and she gasped with the pain of it, rolling onto her back. "You don't listen too good, human". 

It was that bitch Three. Kara frakking hated her already. She managed to force herself onto her knees and, gasping, from there onto her feet where she stood, swaying unsteadily. She looked at the Three. Opened her mouth. Knowing it was a stupid thing to do, not caring, doing it anyway. 

"You're going to be at the top of my list, I think". She spat dust and dirt from her mouth. 

"And what list might that be?" The Three enquired, a dangerous look on her face. Starbuck forced a grin from her split and bruised lips. 

"The list I'm gonna make of the order I'm gonna kill you all in. See, I figured, if I practice on all of you, I can decide which one gives me the greatest satisfaction. Who screams the loudest, you know the kind of thing. And then I can get rid of you, get you the frak off my planet, one, stupid, frakking, number, at, a time". She stopped. She felt better than she had all day. 

The crowd was very quiet, stunned, but as she listened she heard a low murmur of anger. It rose, like a strengthening wind. Good. She'd gotten to them. She looked at the Three with a satisfied smile on her swollen face. The Three looked murderous. "You done?" She asked. 

"Yep. For now", Starbuck replied, smiling. 

"Good". Without warning the Three stepped forward and slapped her, hard, across the side of the face. As she staggered sideways, just managing to keep her balance, it occurred to her that she hadn't actually been hit in the face since that first day, since the fight in the museum. *And it isn't even as if we really knew each other back then, her mind thought crazily. 

She straightened up slowly, one hand to her cheek, just in time to see the coming blow. This one sent her to her knees once more, and the Three grabbed her by the hair, preventing her from either rising or falling any further. The roar of the crowd was deafening now. They wanted blood. They threatened to surge forwards..and suddenly the Three had stopped hitting her and instead had her in a headlock, standing behind her and facing the advancing crowd of Cylons. 

"No!" she screamed at them. "That's what she *wants you to do!" 

Dammit. The sly bitch had seen through her plan. Quickly she tried to rile the crowd some more, before they could listen to reason, but the Three simply increased the pressure on her neck, choking her like a dog. Kara coughed and gagged as her traitor body struggled for air. She fought the woman as best she could but she seemed to be made of steel. Ha. Funny joke. Kara felt her resistance fading and the only thought in her head was that she didn't want to go like this, on her knees, choked to death like an animal. 

"Can't you see?? She's trying to provoke you into killing her quickly! It's another reason why the mission spec included the requirement that the prisoner be bound at all times! They know what to expect, because it's the same treatment they mete out to our brothers and our sisters who are captured and fall in God's holy name!" She was almost screaming now, forcing the crowd back by sheer force of will. 

Beneath her, Starbuck pawed weakly at the arm cinched tightly around her neck. She was weakening. Bubbles formed at the corners of her mouth and her eyes took on a slight glaze. The Three looked down at her as if just remembering she was there. With an expression of disgust she loosened the pressure around Starbuck's throat. She swapped arms, holding the semi-conscious pilot easily under her left arm. She wiped the blood and saliva from her right forearm onto Starbuck's tanks. 

She spoke more quietly now. "Do you see now, my brothers, my sisters?" She called out. If we kill her now, to satisfy our petty desire for revenge, we lose the opportunity to use her to our advantage! The possibilities are endless, and we have all the time in the world to manipulate her as we desire. And so, as her attempt to manipulate *us has failed- she can now look forward to *many, *long, *interesting, *fruitful sessions of *interrogation". With each emphasised word she abruptly increased the pressure on Starbuck's neck. The pilot, who was just managing to get her breath back, choked with each squeeze and hacked painfully with each relief. 

"But don't worry, I won't stifle your craving for revenge altogether! Look, here.." She bent to pick up a pebble from the floor and looked at it curiously. "Allow me one hour to prepare, and then return. I think that you'll be pleased by what you find". 

A human crowd given this instruction would, of course, taken absolutely no notice whatsoever, simply carried on gawking and pushing and shoving to get the best view. Cylons, however, apparently did what they were told. The crowd drifted away and within minutes they were alone in the courtyard. Three looked down at the gasping woman at her feet. She stepped round her contemptuously, motioning two Centurions to guard her. She had some planning to do. 

***  
## Sixth day, afternoon **

It was some kind of scaffold. It looked almost like a gallows, Kara thought as she was dragged towards it. She felt a flicker of hope that maybe Six and the Three had been wrong and that she'd made them so angry that they were going to execute her after all. As she came closer, she could see it was indeed for suspension, but not, she thought, for death by hanging. A slightly raised dais would put her on view to everybody, but not far enough to render the throwing of missiles a pointless enterprise. Restraints hung from all four corners of the rough wooden structure, which resembled nothing so much as a doorway with no door. 

*Cylons work quickly, gotta give 'em that, she thought sourly. She was hauled up the step by her clanking Centurion guards and deposited unceremoniously onto the wooden deck.

Four barrels had been placed around the dais, one at each corner. They hadn't been in sight earlier, in the empty dusty courtyard. Starbuck had wondered about them briefly, but then remembered that she didn't give a frak. Not frak one, not about anything, not anymore.

Three was there to meet her. Of course she was. And the crowd, as punctual and obedient as always, was back. Its ranks had swelled considerably. People were thronging against hastily constructed barriers- Centurions were busily creating an inner perimeter using rope and stakes hammered into the cracks between the paving slabs. *Just like at the frakking zoo.. Starbuck was too tired to be angry. Bored of this elaborate display which was clearly only a prelude to something particularly horrible which had been arranged especially for her. 

She looked down around. No kids. That was the weird thing, well, that and the fact that everyone looked like everyone else, of course. But the lack of children running about, screaming, laughing, fighting, meant it was like a very sombre zoo. No.. zoo wasn't quite right. Okay, here was the cage, and Three was the trainer, and she, of course, was the animal, but still it wasn't quite right. It was the sense of expectation, she thought suddenly. Everyone was virtually gripping the ropes and jostling to see what was going to happen next. That was it. The atmosphere here was more like that of a fair, or a carnival. 

*Roll up, roll up, come and see the human freak, Starbuck thought tiredly. She pushed herself, slowly and wearily, to her feet. 

***

The crowd was far enough from her that the missiles couldn't do her any serious damage, but they could, and did, sting like crazy whenever they landed. It was also the unexpectedness of it which was the psychological killer, Kara thought, as she hung, furious, in her bonds. The crowd were all around her, small pellets were striking her from all angles. It was like being attacked by a swarm of bees, she thought, except bees aren't launched by some skinjob sadist freak who laughs and whoops and high fives his companions every time he scores a direct hit and you cry out helplessly with the pain of it.

Three had stripped off her clothing easily, finishing the job she'd begun earlier that day, before Starbuck provoked the crowd into making her call a halt. The mood was subtly different now, however, and Three was not pleased. Before, Starbuck had been helpless, frightened, vulnerable, and it had shown in her face and in her demeanour. Now, although she was clearly in the same predicament, her attitude was more defiant. She even smiled at Three as she raised her eyes to her face. She was about to speak, no doubt to offer some insult, some defiance, when Three forestalled her. 

"Don't." she whispered quietly, so the crowd couldn't hear. "I am *this close to hanging you from this thing and using a bullwhip on you until you cry out, until you plead, until you sob, and beg me for mercy. And then laughing into your face, continuing to beat you until you pass out from the pain. However, Six, the Six you know, asked me to continue with the agreed programme. She's a hero to us now, you know, for bringing you to us, so her opinion carries weight. The plan will stand, for now. But if you say one word, one more word to me today, i may not be able to help myself. I am done, *finished with your shit today. Do you understand me?" 

Starbuck looked at her, weighed up her options. She realised that the Three wasn't kidding. The news that her Six was still out there, somewhere, still looking out for her, brought feelings that she couldn't quite explain. Once again, and still bizarrely, she didn't want to let her down. *Let this go, for now, she thought. She dropped her eyes to the Three's feet and nodded. 

The Three looked at her with complete loathing and contempt and spat directly into her face. "Good. First smart decision you've made yet". 

Kara felt hot spittle sliding down her cheek. 

*Whoops, made me another enemy here. Always been good at that. Maybe I should learn to keep my big mouth shut... Too late for that now though. ...

The Three quickly stripped off the tattered rags of her clothing, the Centurions standing by with raised rifles making resistance a pointless concept. The crowd bayed as each article was removed and tossed aside. Finally, when she was completely naked and defenceless, all her wounds and evidence of her ill-treatment visible to see, the Three forced her to parade round the perimeter of the dais, giving each part of the crowd a good look at her abused body. The noise of the crowd had reached a higher level now, they approved of this. Approved highly. 

*Figures, Starbuck thought dispiritedly. *we're just toys to them. Just.. animals. 

She was led to the frame and stood motionless as she was fastened into the shackles. She stood with hands high overhead, feet spread apart. She remembered the night in the clearing by the stream, the day she'd tried to escape, and experienced a strange pang of longing and loss. 

*Frak, you know you're in a severely frakked up situation when you look back on *that night with nostalgia, she thought wryly. But it was true, when she thought back to memories of Six, there were good ones too, like the rabbit stew, and the night in the shelter, the night of the storm.. She stood silent in her restraints, knowing that sooner or later she would hang from them, hang there just as she'd hung helpless from the tree in the clearing by the stream, and she thought miserably that she'd do anything, anything at all to have Six hold her in her arms again. She didn't care that she was a Cylon, didn't care about all the awful things she'd done to her- all she wanted was for her Six to wrap her in her arms, hold her close and tell her that everything's gonna be okay, sssshh, now, easy...everything's gonna be alright...

***

## Sixth day, evening ##

Actually, Starbuck now thought that she'd had it right in the first place. She winced as a particularly well-aimed pellet caught her in the fleshy part of her hip. When she'd first seen the structure she'd thought straightaway, *gallows. Then it had been *zoo, and *carnival, and both of those had been close, but none quite summed up the attitude of the crowd. They wanted punishment. They were good Cylons, they weren't going to rush the structure and rend her limb from limb, at least not now Three had explained things to them. But they were still mad, and they still wanted to hurt her and make her pay, and a good three hours later, after Three had patted her mockingly on the shoulder and gone off to the building, talking loudly about tall glasses of iced tea, gallons of water, sliced watermelon... They were still here, and the buckets had just been refilled with pellets and the crowd were still throwing them.

The buckets were full of clay pellets, about the size of a golf ball but with a lighter density. They'd been moved to the corners of the outer perimeter to enable easy access. Thoughtful Cylons, providing weapons for the masses to throw at the feeble human. Each one too light to do any real damage, but when thrown all at once, striking her defenceless vulnerable soft spots, it became a torture such as she'd never known. She winced and moaned as three, or was it four, missiles hit her almost simultaneously, hitting her buttock, her thigh, her back all at once. She was hanging now, all of her weight suspended from the cuffs. At some point the demonic Three had moved behind her, delivered swift kicks to the backs of both knees, rendering her legs temporarily unable to support any of her weight. She forced her face down, trying vainly to hide her helpless tears. 

Kara twisted feebly in her shackles. She would not beg. She would not cry. She would pass out before she gave them the satisfaction. 

In the end there was no end. The evening came on apace, and much of the crowd drifted away. Enough remained, however, to make the continuing rain of pellets a thing of torture. When night fell, the Centurions rigged up floodlights to highlight the structure. People drifted back to see what was happening. The rain increased to a barrage, from a barrage to a torrent. Hanging from the uprights, twisting helplessly in a pathetic attempt to escape the biting missiles, Kara began to moan. Then to cry. Then to beg.

***

A Six watched despairingly from a window in the main building. She couldn't see Kara properly anymore since night had fallen, but she could see the brightness of the floodlights, and she could hear the murmur of the crowd. She prayed to her God that Kara would give in soon, that this would be over. She didn't ask herself why she cared, or let herself consider the fact that she herself was the reason the human was up there on that horrible scaffold in the first place. She just watched the light, and heard the crowd, and thought of Kara, and prayed desperately that she would be alright. She wanted to hold her close again and never let her go.


	8. 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath of the orientation

## Seventh day, midnight ##

It was midnight on Caprica. Three had reluctantly ordered the human prisoner released from her shackles after she had finally passed out half an hour or so before. The crowds had dispersed almost entirely, getting no satisfaction from abusing an unconscious victim. 

Three stood alone, hair gleaming in the harsh floodlights. She was surprised at the depth of the anger she still felt towards the pathetic creature lying at her feet. It wasn’t currently in a fit state to be offering her any of its customary defiance, and it certainly didn’t constitute a threat right now, and yet still she had to physically stop herself from kicking the unconscious body, kicking it over and over again as hard as she could until it broke and bled. She guessed it was because this particular human embodied all the infuriating depth of the humans’ will to resist the legitimate Cylon rule of her superiors. Or maybe it was just that she was an insolent piece of human garbage. She’d have to be careful, she could see that. Would have to watch herself. The value to be gained from carefully and systematically exploiting this human far outweighed her own petty need for vengeance. As she’d already told the others… *have to abide by my own rules… 

And yet. If she could reign in her anger, stop herself from going too far, she thought that she could attain a perfectly reasonable level of satisfaction during the process of teaching the human its rightful place. And keeping it there.

She gestured to the Centurions, who immediately came forward and lifted the human by her arms and feet. They carried her like a sack of potatoes towards the main building, head hanging down almost to the floor. Three thought that she’d never seen anybody look so helpless. She followed behind, directing the Centurions down to a lower level and into the corridor containing the detention cells. The human was carried into one of these and laid directly on the floor.

Three was instructing the guards in the placement of the human’s restraints when there was a knock at the open door. Three looked up to see Six standing in the doorway, looking uncharacteristically hesitant. She had changed out of her travel clothes and now wore a simple white shift dress. Her hair was washed and she smelled of peach blossom.

“Sister! What a surprise. I thought we had agreed to reconvene in the morning. There’s nothing further to be achieved tonight.. the orientation procedure was most successful”.

“So I see”, Six said dryly, eyes flickering to the limp prisoner. “I merely thought, in my capacity as overseer, I ought to oversee the human’s arrival in the facility proper. I was, indeed, expecting to be advised the moment the.. orientation.. was over. I trust this won’t be a problem, sister?”

“No, of course not! Not at all!” Three replied, her words belying the strange look she gave the other woman. “It’s your right to oversee the treatment of the subject at whatever time you see fit. I simply assumed that the morning would be soon enough. My apologies. Will you require any further aid from our assistants at this time?” She waved a hand towards the Centurions.

“Yes. Or at least, I hope so. The human has suffered an extended, extremely traumatic experience and needs to rest. Furthermore, I believe she may require immediate medical attention”, here she broke off to examine Starbuck’s wrists more closely. She came upright, her face grave. “Her entire weight has been hanging on her wrists for several hours. There is danger of severe infection. I must request that she receive medical treatment in a more suitable location”.

Three frowned. “There’s nothing seriously wrong with her, sister. There’s nothing the medical centre could provide her with that cannot be administered.. here”. She smirked slightly as she looked at the bare cell, empty of anything barring the steel control point bolted to the floor, and the restraint set lying beside it. “We’ll get her secured, and then she is yours to attend to as you see fit. I don’t think we need assistance with that, do you?” She motioned to the waiting Centurions, a gesture of dismissal. Moving as one, they left the room. Six could hear them moving heavily away along the corridor.

She tried once more. “Sister, sometimes we run the risk of forgetting that the humans are frail creatures, and that they have been known to break before we are truly finished with them. Knowing the value of this particular subject, I really must reiterate my request that she be immediately transferred to a medical assessment unit, where her condition can be properly monitored”.

Three smiled as she eyed the taller woman. She wondered about her motivation for the emphatic and insistent request. It was.. interesting. Who knew, perhaps this particular experiment could turn out to be even more rewarding than she’d initially expected.

“I am in charge of this particular project, as you know, sister. The decision is mine, and I’m sorry to inform you that it is final. The human will remain here, in this cell, unless the condition of its limbs deteriorates significantly”. She patted Six on the shoulder. “And I am quite sure that you won’t allow that to happen”.

They clashed again over the placing of the restraints. Three wanted to pinion her by the wrists again, after antibacterial agents and bandages had been applied. Six argued that the damage had gone beyond this, and this was a battle she won. She had been deliberately appointed by Three to monitor the human’s interrogations for one main reason - to inflict further disorientation and confusion on the subject by the sudden shift of her captor becoming her advocate. Therefore, although the Three led the programme and made the final decisions on the overall treatment the human would receive, Six did have a certain level of sway when it came to medical matters, and she used it now.

“Absolutely not. Restraining her by the wrists at this point would be to risk permanent damage to the limbs, perhaps even gangrene. Let me use the collar, and the foot cuffs, look..” she hurriedly moved to demonstrate, trying to do so before Three could make a final decision against her. She quickly locked the restraints onto the human’s ankles and pulled them tight, so that her legs were in a bent position and drawn up towards her backside. The steel cord looped through the control point and was attached to the pain collar which Starbuck still wore. Six sat back and surveyed her handiwork. 

“There. She’s not going anywhere”. Sensing that the other was still undecided, she offered further, “And of course, as soon as she has had time to heal, we can reconsider the level of her restraints. I am fully aware of the danger she will pose as soon as she recovers some of her strength, sister”. 

It was enough. Three nodded in agreement. 

“Agreed. You will monitor the human closely, as will I, and the minute I judge it sufficiently healed, it will return to extreme restraints. As is appropriate for dangerous vermin”. She gave the unconscious Starbuck a look of contempt and flat dislike, then turned and nodded to Six. 

“Goodnight, sister. I’ll arrange a meeting with you in the morning, so that we can discuss the implementation of the subject’s programme”. She left the cell, the sound of her heels fading rapidly.

Six breathed a sigh of relief. She knelt beside the human. 

“Starbuck? Starbuck, can you hear me?” There was no response, the human still out for the count. Six put a hand to her forehead, pushed her hair back from her eyes. Looked like her ordeal, compounded by sheer exhaustion, had caused this state – didn’t look like it was anything more serious than that, at least Six hoped not. 

Having ensured she was breathing normally, Six turned her attentions to the human’s hands. She let out a gasp of shock to mirror the one she’d repressed minutes before, under Three’s narrow gaze. What she had done to the human had been a requirement of the mission briefing, and necessary for her own personal safety. Moreover, she’d been careful to cause her the minimum of discomfort and pain when attending to her restraints. That had all been necessary. This.. this was torture. Starbuck’s wrists and forearms were swollen to the point where there was no discernible difference in diameter between her hands and her arms. The hands were dark red and engorged, the limbs just below them black with bruises. Angry red weals encircled the area where the wrists should be, oozing blood and lymph. Six stared, filled with entirely unexpected compassion. She didn’t ask herself why this particular human’s wellbeing seemed to matter so much to her, she only knew that it did. 

Opening the medkit she’d brought, she quickly laid out what she would need. She was hesitant to touch the abused limbs more than absolutely necessary, but she knew that it was essential to get the blood flowing properly. Using cold compresses, she began gently massaging the pilot’s arms. Starbuck moaned in her sleep. Knowing she couldn’t hear her, Six spoke anyway. 

“I’m here now, Kara. You’re okay, everything’s going to be okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe, I’ve got you. Sleep now, no-one’s going to hurt you. Shhh, sweetheart. Sleep”. 

As she spoke, the irony of her words hit her and shame coursed through her whole body. What a pack of lies. She’d brought Kara here to this place of pain. She was entirely responsible for whatever happened to her now, even if she never again raised a fist to her. And everything she’d just said was the biggest pile of horseshit she’d ever heard.


	9. 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> D'Anna takes charge..

## Eighth day, morning ##

Six and Three met in the corridor outside Starbuck’s cell. 

“How is our guest today?” D’Anna enquired. 

“Better. She woke up some time ago. She’s in quite a lot of pain from her arms, in particular, but I’ve brought some pain meds which I think in the circumstances are justified..” 

“No”. Three interrupted sharply. “No pain medication. She doesn’t need it. None of her injuries are sufficiently severe as to require analgesics”. 

Six stared at her, unable to quite believe what she’d heard. 

“Perhaps not”, she said, choosing her words carefully. “Perhaps not individually, however taken as a whole they are quite distressing. A small dose of pain relief would help her to begin the healing process, don’t you agree?” 

Three smiled, enjoying this conversation. 

“Indeed, I agree that they probably would help her to heal. My opinion doesn’t, however, change my judgement that they aren’t necessary in this situation. Furthermore, she is filthy, human, vermin, and, quite frankly, is entirely undeserving of pain relief”. Slipping neatly past the open-mouthed Six, she began entering the combination for the cell door.

***

Starbuck looked up as the cell door opened. Her breathing visibly hitched as she saw the Three smiling down at her. She flinched involuntarily and shifted in her chains. 

"Good morning, Lieutenant", the woman purred at her. 

Starbuck's gaze flicked to the Six standing behind her in the doorway. Her Six? She didn't know for sure, but she thought it was. The Six caught her eyes, and nodded once, very slightly. A warning. Starbuck swallowed. 

"Good morning", she muttered. Hating it. 

"Ah!! It speaks! Haven't heard you say much since your little outburst yesterday, Lieutenant! Other noises, yes, but not many words..". She grinned unpleasantly. Starbuck said nothing. She held the woman's gaze with an effort. 

"And how are you feeling this morning? Six tells me that you're much improved. Improved enough to be returned to the correct restraints, I wonder?" She moved closer. 

Starbuck shuddered at the thought of having those cruel shackles returned to her poor wrists. She looked down at them. Her arms were swaddled to the elbows in white bandages. Her hands were fat white mittens. They hurt, but not unbearably so. Someone had smeared some soothing gel on them, she thought. Probably her Six. She couldn't imagine the sadistic Cylon bitch in front of her bothering to do it. 

"A day or too yet, I think, sister", Six spoke quietly. "We don't want to risk undoing all the good work". The Three didn't look at her, eyes still fixed on the human prisoner. 

"All right. We have other business today, anyway. But tomorrow I want to see the progress you've made, so these rags", she gestured to the bandages, "will be coming off". 

A day's reprieve. Starbuck felt pathetically grateful. 

"Now," the Three continued, "I think it appropriate that we inform the good ship Galactica of your presence at our little facility, what do you say? Hmmm? I'm sure you want to say howdy to all your friends, don't you?" 

She gestured, and a Four entered, carrying with him video equipment which he proceeded to set up in the centre of the cell. 

Starbuck thought about it. On one hand, nobody knew where she was, had any idea that she was still alive. The thought of rescue, no matter how faint, was unbearably appealing to her. On the other, she knew damned well that there was no chance Three would entertain this idea if there was any chance it would lead to a possible rescue effort by the Galactica. Was she even on Caprica any more? She'd been out of it last night; she could been transferred anywhere. Even onto a baseship. She couldn't see any natural light from the corridor, but that didn't mean anything. And she was horrified by the thought of the Command crew seeing her in her current state. She said nothing, however. Wouldn't make a blind bit of difference either way, whatever she did or didn't say. 

"Ready", the male Cylon said quietly. 

"Excellent! Thank you brother". The Three moved to pick up the video camera. "Now, I think a simple recognition exercise is the first order of the day, don't you?". She flicked a button and a red light came on. 

"Suppose you say hello to the nice Commander, Starbuck". 

"Suppose you go and frak yourself" Starbuck growled, knowing it would mean pain, not caring. The Three smiled at her. 

"So rude, Lieutenant! And here we are, making you so welcome in our humble abode!" She turned to the Six. "The controller, please. I trust you brought it with you, as I requested?" 

"Indeed", Six moved forward, handed over the controller for the pain collar. Starbuck's eyes flicked to the object and she swallowed involuntarily, failing to contain a low moan, remembering pain. 

Three smiled at her reaction. 

“Yes, it’s an interesting device, isn’t it? I see from your response that you’re well acquainted with its qualities, Lieutenant. Sixes are excellent teachers, wouldn’t you agree?” She looked at Six, and a new idea seemed to strike her. 

“In fact, she’s so capable, I think it would be more appropriate for her to continue the good work she’s already started”. She held out the controller. 

Six didn’t move. Three looked at her enquiringly. “Sister? Is there a problem?” 

“No. No problem”, Six said huskily. She reached out her hand and accepted the device, refusing to look at Starbuck. 

“Wonderful”. 

Three set the camera onto its stand and moved to stand before it. Starbuck couldn’t help imagining how this file would play out to the Commander. The shot panning from its view of the dejected, captured pilot, sitting on the floor in bandages and chains, to the smiling face of the Cylon interrogator. 

“Commander Adama. May I say that it’s a sincere pleasure to be sending you this recording. I trust you recognise the face of our latest… subject? It’s a little.. battered, but I have no doubt you’ll know who it is. One of your best pilots, I think. She’s quite famous amongst us, you know. It quite the honour to have her grace us with her presence”. She turned from the camera to look down at Starbuck. 

“I’d ask you to stand up when you’re speaking to your commanding officer, Lieutenant, but I don’t think that you can manage that right now, can you?” 

Starbuck continued to maintain her silence, even as she considered the woman’s words. No, she couldn’t stand. Not from pain or discomfort – marks from her forced march and from last night’s fun and games aside, her legs were relatively unharmed. Her captors had mostly concentrated their efforts on her upper limbs. So far. She couldn’t stand for the simple reason that the damned chain wouldn’t stretch far enough. It ran only far enough from her collar to the bolt on the floor to allow her to sit upright, but no further. In the other direction, her ankles were tethered to the same bolt, making it impossible for her to straighten her legs. She grimaced, pulling irritably on the steel cords which held her. She’d almost rather be restrained from the ceiling like she had been last night. At least that would be more.. honest? Was that the word she meant? This.. this was just humiliating. 

“Nothing to say to Commander Adama, Starbuck? And to the rest of the Command crew? I expect they’re all watching this, unless the Commander has already yanked it off the screen. It must be a shock to them, seeing you here, as our.. guest. He’ll watch it all, though, you can be sure of that”. 

Yes, Starbuck thought miserably. He would. They probably all would, although it would almost kill them to do so, for the simple reason that they’d be looking for clues, clues to her location, clues to anything which might possibly enable them to track her down and save her from this. She sighed internally. Trouble was, she didn’t have a clue where she was. Come on.. think! There must be something..

“No, you can’t stand”, the bitch Cylon’s voice broke into her thoughts, “But that doesn’t mean you have an excuse to forgo your manners entirely. You can still use your voice to wish the Commander a good morning. Please do so”. 

Starbuck remained silent. She thought of all the ways in which she could kill this Cylon. Which way she would like to try first. If only she could get her body free. And her strength back. Three gave a mocking tsk! of annoyance. Motioned to the Six standing close by. 

Six, having no choice, pushed the switch on the controller. Bit back the urge to apologise to the pilot as her face instantly contorted with the pain and she cried out. Her hands were bandaged so effectively that this time she couldn’t even get her fingers under the edge of the collar, not that doing so had made any difference at all last time. Just as the pain began to fade, Three motioned once more and she cried out again, louder this time. Six gave her four shocks in total and when she finally stopped, Starbuck was shaking and helpless tears were sliding down her face. Three turned to the camera. 

“So unnecessary”, her voice dripped sympathy, “But I guess you’d expect nothing less from Lieutenant Thrace, would you, Commander? She always was as stubborn as a mule..” She looked back at Starbuck. The pilot was still visibly trembling and her breathing was harsh in the small room. 

“So, Lieutenant. Have you found your manners yet, or do you need further instruction?” 

Starbuck closed her eyes briefly. She’d rather be whipped than go through any more of that. That she thought she’d be able to deal with; this she just couldn’t. It was like being simultaneously electrocuted and flayed alive. She looked down at her bandaged hands. 

“Good morning”, she muttered. 

“Louder, please Starbuck, and look at the camera”. Hating, Starbuck obeyed. 

“Good morning, Sir”.


	10. 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the data recording

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *** Warning ***
> 
> This chapter contains a graphic depiction of FF oral rape. Please please please don’t read it if that will offend, upset or trigger.
> 
> This story started out dark and I think it’s going to get darker before the end. I of course in no way condone such activity in real life.

## Eighth day, mid-morning ##

"Well, that went well, I think". The hated Three smiled as she shut off the video camera. "We'll get a signal straight off on the next recon flight. Adama should have your broadcast within hours". 

Starbuck said nothing. There was nothing to say. It hadn't really been a broadcast, as such, more a general depiction of her degradation. Once she'd been forced to describe her capture and to relate what had happened to her over the preceding days, the Three had mostly moved on to gloating. Without going into specifics, she informed the Commander that she planned to break Starbuck down, bit by bit, ending with "until it drinks from a dog's bowl on the floor, thanking me for allowing it to do so". Starbuck sat in silence. As really there was nothing much to say. 

Three moved towards her. Starbuck tried not to shake. Tried not to wonder what was coming next. It didn't matter, it would happen regardless. The Three seized her by the hair and pulled her head forwards, almost gently. 

"That was beautiful, Starbuck, thank you. I want to thank you, really I do". She stroked her face. Starbuck twisted away from her as far as she was able. Again, she knew it was stupid but she wasn't able to help herself. 

"I want to piss on your dying face", she spat out. Three stilled the hand moving on her face. Stilled her whole body. 

"Do you, now. Well that's.. interesting, Starbuck. Interesting, indeed. I don't think you'll ever have a chance of achieving your goal, but it amuses me to hear you express it. But you have brought an exciting image to my mind, however. How would it be, do you think, instead of you pissing on my dying face, if I were to piss on your living one? I think I'll make that your reality, as soon as I can". She pulled Starbuck close, dragging her face into her crotch. She grinned slowly. 

"But right now, I think I need some other relief. The sight of you crawling along the floor, begging your commander to help you, whimpering, like the dog that you are, has had a certain.. *effect on me, shall we say?" 

She pushed Starbuck's face to one side and unfastened her pants. "Time to see if you learned any worthwhile skills in the Colonial Fleet, Lieutenant". 

Starbuck's mind reeled. She raised her hands weakly in defence, hands that were bandaged white paws that couldn't help her. They brushed uselessly against smooth white thighs. The Three moved closer, tossed her pants to one side and then seized Starbuck by the hair once more, pulling her head back sharply. "That's right, like that.." Starbuck could smell her arousal, and pushed again weakly at her thighs.

"No"... she moaned, helpless to stop what was happening. The Three laughed once above her. "’No’?" Now why ever would you think that "’no’", would have any effect around here? Hmmm?" She dragged Starbuck closer still, holding her now by the hair with both hands. "Lick me, human". 

She raised her body slightly, positioning herself just above Starbuck's face, then dropped. Abruptly, Starbuck found herself enveloped. She was drowning in wetness, her nose and mouth captured by a wet cavern. She twisted to get away, but cruel hands held her firmly in place. "That's it... Taste me..." She gasped, gulped for air, swallowed fluid instead. Gods, her face was *inside this frakking Cylon's cunt! The hell bitch's hand was a steel band around her neck. She couldn't pull away. She opened her mouth to cry out, and in that moment found herself pulled yet tighter against the very centre of the other woman. Her open mouth was on lips and within lips. She was engulfed, she was enfolded. She pulled again feebly, trying for air. One thing at a time. Air first. Worry about the other thing after. Her nose broke free briefly and she gasped a huge ragged breath of air, before the Three seized her again, even more firmly this time. 

She held her motionless in her steel grip, looking down at her, drinking in every inch of her humiliation. Starbuck gasped for breath. Her face was flushed, sopping wet and smeared liberally with the other woman's secretions. The brief reprieve was suddenly ended, however, and the Three suddenly appeared to get serious. She shifted so that her intimate lips parted, and thrust Starbuck's nose and mouth back into her cunt. The folds closed around her face. She was drowning in smell and in taste. "Lick me", she heard dimly from above. She tried feebly once again to pull away, but cruel hands twined in her hair. "Lick me", the command was repeated. She opened her mouth to cry out, but it was a mistake, as before she could utter a sound, Three was using her open mouth to pleasure her centre. Starbuck groaned as she felt her face rubbed again and again across the bitch's clit. Late newsflash - Starbuck, you've got a psycho Cylon bitch with her soaking cunt clamped around your face. Gods! To be treated like this.. 

"Frakking lick me, you pathetic, disgusting frakking human, or I swear I will choke you to death in my own cunt". Starbuck believed her. This woman was all kinds of crazy. She used her open mouth to suck at the woman above her. She couldn't escape her, couldn't get away from the steel clamp of her thighs and her all-consuming, gaping cleft. Maybe the easiest way to get her off her was just..to get her off. 

"Ahhh... my God, yesss.. That's it, Lieutenant.. That's it.. suck me..". Starbuck sucked on the woman's clit. It seemed huge, and filled her mouth, and her mind. *Six, she thought. Six had never made her do this. Six had made love to her, okay, a twisted kind of captive love, but nonetheless nothing like this. She was choking now, gasping, drowning in the other woman. 

"Suck, I said!" The Three hauled achingly on her hair, dragging her still deeper into her cunt, mashing herself against her face. Starbuck sucked. Licked. Worked her mouth as desperately as she could against the woman above her. The Three was in a rhythm now, rocking and moaning as she worked the pilot against her. "Don't stop, don't you dare stop, my little human... don't ever think you can get away.. You're mine and don't you ever forget that..." 

Her words trailed off into gasps and pants, and she cried out abruptly as she came, dragging Starbuck against her even tighter than before. "Oh God...." She held her, rocking and grinding herself onto her face, for long moments, until finally she calmed, her jerky movements slowing. She pushed the pilot away abruptly and stood upright, still twitching from her release. She looked down at her prisoner, gasping for breath on the floor. She gave a shaky laugh. 

"Wanted to do that since the moment I saw you in that courtyard, Starbuck. Now I think I'll just do it every day. What do you think, how do you like that, hmmm? You were pretty awful, but you'll learn. I can promise you that you'll get a lot of practice, at least.." She laughed, already recovering some of her composure. She bent and pulled her pants towards her, pulling them right side out. 

Starbuck looked up at her, humiliated and shamed almost beyond all measure. That defiant voice in her mind spoke out, the one that just wouldn't let it lie, wouldn't let things be.,

"That was rape, you frakking Cylon psychopath. You frakking rapist. What's wrong, you're so frakking frakked up that you can't find anyone to take care of you? You're such a complete *freak that you can't get anyone to touch you?? You have to take it by force, because you can't find anyone who's willing to give it willingly??" 

The Three stared at her, frozen in the act of buttoning her pants. "Let me know when you're done", she said, carefully. 

Starbuck could see Six out of the corner of her eye. She refused to make eye contact. Six would no doubt warn her to stop provoking the volatile and dangerous Three, and frankly Starbuck was sick to death of pandering to the psycho bitch. Part of her almost wanted to push her into a real frenzy, see how far she could make her go. 

"Oh, I'm done, rapist", she said, grinning, "said pretty much exactly what I wanted to say. Called you on being the pathetic rapist bitch that you are. And I think everyone here knows that that's true".

Starbuck saw her Six in her peripheral vision raise her hands to her mouth. She was staring down at her in shock, although whether that was shock at the scene she’d just witnessed, or at the words she now uttered, Starbuck didn’t know. Right now, she didn’t care. 

"Shut, the frak, up". The Three was white with fury. For the human to dare to show this defiance was one thing, almost welcome in fact, it made the upcoming training programme that much more exciting. For her to do so in front of others, however, that was unacceptable. Lessons would have to be given. Respect taught. Immediately.


	11. 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Head games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Warning***
> 
> Again, implied non-con. Violence and abuse of a detainee. Please don't read if this will offend. This work of fiction is not at all reflective of real life and this behaviour should (for heaven's sake) in no way be recreated.

## Eighth day, late morning ##

The Six moved to stand before Starbuck, looking down at her with contempt. She tugged lightly on her hair, pulling her forward and slightly off balance. She spoke. 

"I like my humans in chains. I like them on their knees on the floor, where they belong. But more than anything else, I like my humans bleeding". She slapped Starbuck abruptly across the face. 

Starbuck gasped in shock. This wasn't her Six, couldn't be. She wouldn’t do that to her. Would she? She hadn’t noticed her Six leave, or another take her place, although she supposed that there had been enough opportunity during the data recording for a switch to have occurred while she was distracted. Or during.. what came after.

The blonde Cylon looked down at her, traced her finger across a thin line of blood which ran from her lip. She smiled. 

"Better. But not, I think, quite sufficient". She struck her again, a backhanded blow across her mouth. Starbuck felt old partially healed cuts reopen and gasped again at the pain of it. 

The Six continued to hit her, holding her easily by the hair, alternating fore and backhanded blows to give equal attention to both sides of her face. Moaning, Starbuck tried to bring up her bandaged hands to protect her face. The Six pushed them away angrily. 

"Don't you dare. Use your hands too much, human, and I'll be forced to believe that you're all healed..." she gripped the pilot's left wrist through the wrappings and squeezed, not gently. Starbuck cried out and pulled instinctively away from her, trying to escape the punishment. Six just laughed and easily pulled her back in. 

"Sorry, Lieutenant, were you going somewhere?" 

"Please, don't..." Starbuck managed, her dignity in tatters. Six laughed again, both at her words and at the mockingly appreciative applause from the Three, watching by the wall. 

"Please don't what?" she enquired. "Please don't hit my nasty face any more? Please don't hurt my poor hurty hands? Hmmm? What?" 

"Please don't.. please don't hit me any more.. please..." Starbuck was crying quietly now, her head down, her wrists still held before her in the Six's long, capable hands. 

"But I want to hit you, human. I want to teach you your rightful place, which is bleeding on the floor of a detention cell. Chained and wearing a collar like the dog that you are. Like the dog that I turned you into on our little road trip". 

Starbuck raised her head at this. Felt that rebellious instinct come to the fore again, the one that always got her into trouble. "You're not... you aren't.. her...", she managed. 

"Aren't I? And how do you know that?" Six enquired dangerously. Starbuck knew that she should shut up, couldn't help herself. 

"Because she never hurt me, unless I'd..." she broke off, thinking about the implications of what she was about to say. Behind her, the cell had gone very quiet. She sensed somehow that this was an important moment, couldn't think why, but she sensed that it was so. 

"Unless I'd done something to provoke her, done something to deserve it". 

Six looked down at her, a strangely calm expression on her face. 

"Interesting. So you're telling me that everything I did to you on our march was completely justified, that you deserved everything that you received? That it was right and just to punish you for having the temerity to fight me, for trying to escape? Does this mean you're finally coming to understand your place in the scheme of things, Lieutenant?" 

"That... wasn't... you..." Starbuck repeated doggedly, hanging on to that one belief with everything she had. It was the only thing she had. She tried not to listen to what the Cylon was saying. 

"So you keep saying. But you don't know that for sure, do you? You'll never know for sure. Maybe I hurt you then simply because you deserved pain and suffering, just like I'm hurting you now, for exactly the same reasons - because you're a worthless piece of human trash. No better than an animal". She pulled her in close by the hair again, seized her by the face, forced her to look up. 

"Say it. Tell me that the new role of humanity is to serve its own creation - and that you deserve everything you get, deserve whatever treatment we decide is best for you". 

"No..." Starbuck spat, looking up at her with the dregs of her defiance. Six hit her again, harder this time. She rocked to the side, moaned. 

"Say it". Hit her again. And again, blood now flying from her battered mouth with each blow. *Oh gods, please make it stop.. 

"Say it and I'll stop, Lieutenant". The voice came from an impossibly long way above her. 

"Please...stop..." her voice was muffled. Her mouth felt mashed. Was mashed. 

"Say it and I will". 

The hand in her hair, the hand on her face, squeezing her jaw. Pain. Suffering. One way to make it stop, if only for a moment. She knew the way out, took it. 

"The new role of humanity is to.. is to serve its own cc..creation…" It didn't burn her as much as she'd expected. 

"Good, Lieutenant. Now tell me that you're a worthless piece of human garbage, and you deserve everything that's happening to you, and make sure that you say it like you mean it". 

Blindly, Starbuck repeated the words. The magic words. She heard laughter above her, behind her. 

"Very good, Starbuck. Very nice indeed". The hands were caressing her now, wiping the blood from her lips, her cheeks, her chin. 

"Now that we've established your place, you can get on with pleasing me like the servant that you are". The hands pulled her to the floor as Six sat, pulled up her dress and spread her legs wide. 

"Come, Lieutenant". She patted her thighs invitingly. Moaning, Starbuck forced her abused body to move and she crawled towards her, blindly accepting her fate. 

***

## Eighth day, late evening ##

"Stop, sister. Stop. We don't want to damage her beyond repair, do we? Not at this stage..." 

Six pushed her hands to her mouth, breathing hard. No, she had no desire to let the human off that easily. She stepped back, smiling at the Three gratefully. 

"Thank you, sister. I'm sorry. I don't mean to get carried away.. I just find them so damned... *irritating.." 

Her sister Cylon smiled at her as she replied, "I understand, my love. They're exceedingly provoking creatures. Don't blame yourself. We will enjoy plenty of time with it, of that you can be sure. But for now, let's get it to the medical lab where its condition can be properly monitored, what do you say?" 

Six smiled. She extended her hand lovingly, stroked D'Anna's cheek. "Of course. You're absolutely right".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankfully poor old Starbuck gets a break in the next chapter.


	12. 12

### Tenth day, mid-morning ###

Kara woke up in a place she'd never been before. Well, not to her knowledge, anyway. It was clean, that was the first thing she noticed. Not covered with blood, not smelling of pain. Medical equipment was stacked on shelves, a gurney was visible by the door. It looked so much like a hospital back home that she experienced a sudden wave of sadness and longing. No. Don't think of the past, Kara. Or of the future. Both will drive you mad. Deal with the present, just deal with each moment at a time. She grinned blackly. Huh. Because each moment of her present was a basket of frakking roses. 

She shook herself and carried on with her inventory of the small room. She supposed that even these creatures did hospitals. It was obviously a private room, only big enough for one bed. There was no window. She lay full length on the narrow bed. She didn't remember getting here. Couldn't even remember her last memory. They must've beat her pretty bad this time, she thought tiredly. The room was very quiet, no beeping of machinery. Was she connected to any machines? Didn't seem so - twisting slightly she couldn't see any drip stands and there appeared to be no tubes going into her body. 

Clearly, no miracle had occurred. She was still a prisoner. Restraints bound her ankles to the base of the bed. Her wrists were free, however she was held by a cuff around each of her arms, just above the elbow. Her arms were pinioned by her side to the frame of the cot. Her forearms were freshly bandaged; her hands reduced again to swaddled mittens. She shifted experimentally...could raise her upper body slightly but in her weakened state certainly couldn't hold the position for more than a few seconds. Kara sighed and lay back flat on the bed. Yup, still a prisoner.

******

She snapped to attention to the noise of the door opening. Expecting the return of her torturers, she tensed on the bed and tried to brace herself for the resumption of inevitable pain. The Cylon who entered, however, was one she'd never seen before. Well, rather, although it was clearly a Six model, she knew immediately that she'd never met this one. It wasn't just the white lab coat, and the olive rimmed glasses, or the softer honey coloured hair held back with a clip at the base of her neck.. It was the look on her face, and her general air of calm and quiet. Starbuck knew immediately that this woman meant her no harm.

"Hello..." she paused to consult the file she held, "Kara".

She crossed to the bed. Starbuck couldn't help but flinch in an instinctive reaction. 

"I'm your doctor. I'm here to see to your physical wellbeing. I'm not going to hurt you".

*Ha. We'd see about that.. Although, thinking about it, she realised grimly that actually none of the Cylons she'd so far encountered had actually lied to her. They'd told her that they were going to hurt her, and hurt her they most decidedly had. 

"How are you feeling?"

Kara stared at the strange Cylon. Whatever else she was, she didn’t seem about to lay into her. She decided to risk the question on her mind, the one she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.

"Where is she? Please let me see her.."

"Who?"

"The one who brought me here... my Six"

"Your Six?" The doctor looked perplexed.

"She.. I need her.. please.."

"Okay, sssshh.. I'll try and find out where she is, okay? I can't promise anything, but I'll try, if you'll calm down for me. Okay? Deal?"

Kara panted and tried to slow her breathing. She didn't know why she was suddenly so desperate. 

"Yes.." As an afterthought, she added, "Thank you". 

The medical officer paused by the door, looking back at the bound and battered human lying helpless and restrained in the small room. She opened her mouth, seemed about to speak, then stopped. She nodded once or twice, firmly, before turning and exiting the room. Kara heard the clunk of the lock as it swung into place. She rolled her head in frustration on the thin wedge of foam which served as her pillow. Medical surroundings or otherwise, she was clearly just as much a prisoner now as she'd ever been. 

******

On the plus side, she now had a pillow, and a bed, which was more than she'd been able to claim for weeks. She'd been awake for more than a few minutes and hadn't yet been beaten, tortured or forced into sexual service. She hadn't been called a dog or made to describe in detail the inferiority of her existence. The nice Six doctor (she looks kind, her mind yammered, please let her be kind..) was going to look for her Six. She was thirsty, but other than that she'd have to say that things were looking up. 

Time passed. No way of knowing how much. No clocks, here. Kara tried to occupy her mind by remembering her pre-launch routine for her Viper. *Need to stay sharp, her mind muttered. *Need to be ready for when I get my chance.. The old man'll never forgive me if I'm no good for flying anymore.. when I get back.. 

More time passed. Kara, unable to do anything else, and with her body relishing the respite from the constant abuse, drifted into a light doze. She was wakened by the hiss of the opening door. She involuntarily jerked back into full wakefulness, ready to deal with whatever new torment was awaiting her. She relaxed ever so slightly as the honey blonde doctor entered the room. She was alone. Kara sighed. No Six. Where was she? She'd said that she'd come to her as soon as she could.. Didn't she care anymore? Kara refused to examine her feelings towards the woman who'd brought her to this place, to this torment. She simply wanted, needed, to see her. 

The doctor Six approached the bed. 

"How are you feeling, Kara?" she asked. She placed her hand on Kara's forehead. Her hand was cool. 

"I'm.. okay, thank you", Kara replied automatically. Politeness was a lesson she was rapidly learning. Pain was a given, regardless of her response, but she'd learned that pain could be diminished slightly by a small measure of obedience and respect. She didn't care if that meant she was yielding, being broken down. She just wanted to survive. 

"Good. I've made enquiries about the Six who brought you here. I'm told you may be allowed to see her, under supervision, sometime soon, although I wasn't given any guarantees". Kara's heart soared, then sank at the doctor's next words. 

"You are going to be having other visitors very shortly, however. The Three in charge of your programme, and the Six who's working with her, will be here shortly. They wish to assess the care plan I've put together for you". She broke off, concerned, as Kara's whole body tightened and she moaned, twisting against her restraints. 

"They won't be able to hurt you, Kara. You're here to be healed. Please relax". Kara snorted bitterly. 

"They'll always be able to hurt me..." She laughed, her voice a broken sound. 

"Not here, they won't". The doctor Six sounded determined and Kara laughed inside. So Cylons had innocents too. People who believed in justice, and hope, and goodness..

"So have they told you what they've done to me, to make me need a doctor at all?" she asked, eying the uncertain woman carefully. 

"Ummm... I've been made fully aware that yours is an extreme programme, that you're a stubborn member of the human resistance and that your immediate subjugation is an urgent necessity. I don't know the details of what's happened to you, or what may happen in the future, but I can promise that nothing will happen to you while you're in my facility. You can trust me on that, Kara". She stared into her eyes. It seemed important to her that Kara believed her words. Kara nodded slowly, laughing cynically inside. 

"Alright. Then would you stay, when they come? Will you stay, no matter what they do or say? Please?"

The Six dropped her eyes. "I'll try," she said. "Look, Kara, D’Anna has ultimate control over what happens to you. If she gives me a direct order, I won't be able to refuse it. But wherever and whenever possible, I will be there, and I'll try and stop anything.. untoward happening to you". 

Kara smiled sadly. As she'd expected. She couldn't count on any help from the doctor. These bitches were all working together, after all. 

******

The doctor was quietly working on her chart, sitting at the desk in the corner. Mostly she let Kara be, but every now and then she asked her for clarification of a report, an explanation of a particular injury. Kara gave the required information calmly, not allowing the infuriation she felt to show. How could she be so calm?? her mind screamed. This was torture! And then she remembered that to these people she was less than human. Normal standards of behaviour didn't apply to her. She had no rights, here. Her conscious mind reminded her that the doctor was just another one of her torturers, that she shouldn't expect anything different from her. And yet.. her mind couldn't help but hope. Gods, this was so hard...

The door gave a ping. Kara's head snapped up, her body jerking to immediate and painful attention. The doctor gave her a worried glance before turning to the door, arranging a professional smile as it opened and the Three and the Six entered the room. Kara began panting like a dog. She tried not to; couldn't help it. The visceral reaction was too strong. The women immediately pinned her with their gaze; moved as one towards the bed, ignoring the doctor. 

"Leave us, please, sister", said the Three, not moving her eyes from Kara. Kara was trying to control her breathing, wasn't doing terribly well. She shifted once in her restraints, enough to remind her that she wasn't going anywhere. The doctor cleared her throat. 

"I'd, ahem, like to stay, if that's acceptable, D’Anna. The subject is new to my care and I need to learn all about her, and her... programme, if I'm to be able to assist her.. assist *you,," she amended hastily. She would've gone on, but the Three stopped her impatiently. 

"Indeed. Very well, doctor, you may remain. On the proviso that you don't intervene, or question anything you might see here, in this room. Anything you encounter here will all be part of this subject's individual treatment programme, and is therefore not subject to questioning. Is that clear?" 

"Yes, sister", the doctor whispered, bowing her head. The doctor sounded deferent, almost afraid, and Kara's spirits sank still further. 

"Good. Now, tell me. How is our favourite human doing?"

The doctor informed her tormentors that although it was still early days, Kara had responded well to the drugs, and that full healing now required more peaceful rest than it did medical intervention.

"She’s coming along very well, very well indeed!" The doctor was almost gabbling. "She's rested, and her arms are healing nicely now they're free of the... restraints... the danger of septicaemia is nearly over..." 

*Stop it!! Kara screamed in her mind. *Don't you know what you're doing?? *Don’t tell them that, for frak's sake!! They'll have me back in that frakking cell before you can blink! The doctor seemed to sense at least some of her distress, although she hadn't moved a muscle or uttered a sound. 

"...that said, she is still extremely weak and requires rest. I judge that she won't be able to return to her... programme for another three days, at least". 

D'Anna frowned. 

"Three days? That is... disappointing. I'm eager for Lieutenant Thrace to return to her set programme as soon as is viable. We were making excellent progress with her, and I don't want her to slip back into..." Here she paused, looking directly at the doctor for the first time, "bad habits". 

Kara bit back the urge to moan. 

"Three days", the doctor said firmly. *Three days.. thought Kara. Hoping again hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cos why not another Six! :)


	13. 13

## Twelfth day, mid-afternoon ##

*Come on.. Come on.. 

Kara's mind screamed at her as she staggered along the hospital corridor. *Find a way out, find a weapon.. She groped at the wall, hating that her body didn't obey her like it used to. She turned a corner and saw daylight coming from a set of double doors ahead of her. A long counter ran along the length of a wide open area, a lobby? The area was deserted. It couldn't be this easy, could it? She listened. Could hear voices coming from somewhere off to her right, behind the counter. 

*Do it.. Do it now.. She limped across the open space, pushed open the doors as quietly as she could. Still nobody called out, ordered her to stop. The sunlight blinded her for long moments, her eyes accustomed to the harsh fluorescents of her cell and her hospital room. When her vision cleared, she saw that she was in the courtyard where she'd been brought on her arrival. Off to her right she could see the punishment structure. Kara shivered. It was deserted. The whole area was deserted. Her mind told her again that this was too easy, that it must be some trap. They'd never let her go like this! 

*Doesn't matter. You have to take every chance you get. Fight 'em til you can't. The trees. Get to the trees. Fighting to clear her head, Kara began to stagger over the open ground towards the tree line. 

***

The Six and the Three watched her from a ground floor window. 

"Want me to take her down now?" Six asked, holding up the controller for Kara's collar. D’Anna considered, her hand rubbing her chin, musing. 

"No, I think not. The psychological effects will be more pronounced if we allow her to run a little further". 

***

She reached the low junk-filled ditch and promptly fell into it headlong, her legs tangling beneath her. She cried out as metal sliced into her thigh. Blood welled out, bright against the sterile whiteness of her gown. *Frak. Gotta bandage that. She tore frantically at the material of her gown, desperation giving her strength to rip off a swatch of cloth big enough for a bandage. Gritting her teeth, she tied it as tightly as she dared over the gaping slash in her upper thigh. *There. Good. 

For the first time, she dared a look behind her. And gasped as she saw Cylons outside the building. They were circling, looking at the ground. Looking for tracks. Kara froze as a Three, probably the same sadistic bitch who'd been torturing her, turned her piercing gaze on the forest. She seemed to look directly at where Kara sat on her ass in the ditch. Seemed to force her way into her very soul and tell her that she'd never get away, that resistance was pointless, that she belonged to her forever. Kara couldn't look away. Eventually the woman turned to speak to the Two beside her, and Kara took her chance. Scrambling on all fours, she clambered up the far side of the ditch and disappeared into the trees. 

***

"Okay, I think she's gone far enough. Six, you and I will lead the recovery party. You, and you, provide back up with rifles, in case we run into any trouble. We won't need more than that. Clear?" Murmurs of agreement. "Good. Let's go and pick up our hapless little human".

***

The water tasted good. It was just water, but the first she'd drunk in a very long time as a free woman. She drank her fill, wishing she had a canteen to fill. She had nothing with her, absolutely nothing except the gown she wore. The gown which now barely covered her butt, thanks to her frantic efforts to create a bandage. She didn't even have any shoes. Her feet hurt. Her thigh hurt. She didn't even know which way she was going, had only been operating on basic instinct, on the insistent clamour of her mind which kept repeating the same word over and over.. *away...

***

"Want me to use this when we catch up to her?" 

D’Anna looked at her, smiling. 

"My, my, sister! You certainly are keen to use that device on her, aren't you? Anyone would think that you *enjoy this, that you gain some kind of *pleasure from reducing our esteemed guest to a screaming, begging mess, rolling in the dirt!" The Cylons laughed together, enjoying the joke.

***

The woods seemed very still, devoid of animal activity. Probably all nuked to frak or dead from radiation. Kara moved more quietly now, the rush of her initial flight having left her. She followed the stream, hoping it maintained a vaguely consistent direction, at least. And she'd have water. That was about as much as she could hope for. Beyond the stream she wouldn't let herself think. Beyond the stream she'd have to admit that she really had no plan, no plan at all. 

The end was mercifully quick, not drawn out. One minute she was struggling through a patch of boggy ground, her eyes on her feet trying not to loose her footing and end up on her ass in the mud, the next, the Three was standing right in front of her. *Gods!! How in the holy Frak had she got in front of her so quickly? Did the bitch sprout wings and frakking *fly?? 

"Hello, Lieutenant". D’Anna smiled and put out her hand to touch Kara's cheek. Without thinking, Kara turned and began to run. She ran blindly, not thinking. If she'd thought, she would've known that flight was pointless, only dragging out the inevitable, but she was not thinking. She was operating completely on instinct, trying to fly away from pain. She heard laughter from behind her as the Three let her go, cat complete with mouse again. Struggling on, her lungs burning, her leg screaming, Kara almost ran straight into Six. 

"Starbuck! What a pleasant surprise!" the Cylon smiled in bogus surprise. Still not thinking, Kara turned again to run and her body fell against the Three. Strong arms encircled her. Warm lips moulded themselves to her neck. 

"Don't run from us, Kara", the lips detached long enough to whisper in her ear, "we only want what's best for you". 

Moaning, Kara tried to pull away and felt the Six move up behind her. Arms slipped around her. More lips were on her neck, just under her ear. Kara moaned, completely enfolded. Every inch of her body held tightly. The arms moved on her body, touching, stroking, massaging. The hips pushing against her with an insistent, circular motion. Despite herself, she couldn't help responding, moving against the warm flesh around her. She moaned again and heard soft laughter from above her. Their lips were like leeches, they wouldn't let up on her. Every time she tried to worm herself free, she simply pressed against pliant flesh that yielded momentarily and then pushed her gently back. She couldn't get away. A thigh nudged its way between her own and she pushed herself instinctively against it, relishing the pressure. She heard laughter again and didn't care. Didn't know how these women did what they did, how she could react to them like this in spite of everything they'd done to her, didn't care. Her whole world was desperate pleasure right now and she squirmed deliciously in the unrelenting grip, getting herself off on the Cylon bitch's thigh like a dog humping its owner's leg, feeling herself rising higher and higher until, panting, she crashed over the edge. She couldn't hear herself crying out with the strength of her own frantic, hopeless, desperate release, didn't feel how she was held safe between her captors, didn't see the entirely victorious look they exchanged across her bowed head. When she came back to herself, she was still held between them, supported in part by the out thrust thigh. The Three spoke, her voice oozing pseudo solicitousness. 

"Time to go home, Starbuck. You must be tired.. you've had quite the busy day".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously inspired by the canon fire extinguisher scene - what would have happened next if I'd had anything to do with it >:) Although picture my doctor looking more like (pre-fall) Gina than like Caprica Six.


	14. 14

### Twelfth day, late afternoon ###

She was not cuffed for the return trip, but her hands were held tightly, one by each of her captors. She made no effort to pull away.

"There’s a good girl". 

Starbuck hardly registered the mocking words, barely felt the humiliation. She felt numb. She walked quietly between the two women, back across all the ground she'd gained, back towards her own personal slice of hell. Back through the woods, over the ditch, across the expanse of open ground. The scene was so similar to that of her arrival in the first place that she actually wondered for a moment if all this was in fact some horrible dream. The Cylon welcoming party was present and correct. The sun was in virtually the same position, lowering in the west. The only differences were the fact that she was walking meekly between two Cylons instead of being dragged by one, and the looming presence of the punishment structure over to her left. She shivered. Expected she'd be seeing that again shortly, for daring to attempt the impossible. For having the temerity to try to escape. 

Sure enough, she was led to the wooden structure. Instructed to sit on the raised platform, her legs extended, while her wound was inspected. D’Anna looked up, found the doctor Six in the crowd already pushing herself forward. 

"Ah, sister, thank you! Would you take a look at our guest's thigh, please? She's been very silly and managed to hurt herself. Of course, it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't been a naughty little girl and tried to run away". She made a mocking tsk! sound. The crowd murmured in amusement, pressing close to the barriers. 

*Please, not the pellets again, Kara moaned in her mind. *Please not that.. Knowing that whatever it was she would have no influence on the decision. Of course not. Six and Three made all her decisions, now. Six and Three knew what was best for her. 

The doctor quickly bared the wound, making a minimal effort to be gentle, not apologising when the blood-dried material had to be tugged away with a rough jerk that made Kara yelp in pain. She looked pissed, she thought apprehensively. Not surprising, really.. She probably got in trouble because of what you did. 

*Way to go, Thrace. She's about the only person here who's treated you with any kind of dignity, hell she almost treated you like you were a person, like you had feelings, and rights! And you threw it all back in her face. What kind of total frak up are you?? 

As if reading her mind, D’Anna spoke from above her. 

"You're lucky some of us are very forgiving people, Lieutenant. My sister here would be quite within her rights to refuse you treatment after what you did to her. If she wasn't a healer and bound to do no harm, I'd almost expect her to request permission to participate in your impending punishment". She paused as Kara's heart sank. Of course there was going to be a punishment. Why even entertain the hope of it being otherwise. 

"Of course", she carried on, "Rules are not set in stone... If the good doctor should decide to put aside her oath for an afternoon, I don't think that anyone here would hold it against her...?" She looked enquiringly at the doctor Six. 

The blonde didn't look up from where she was busily cleaning and bandaging Kara's thigh. She shook her head curtly, lips pressed firmly together. The Three smiled. 

"Pity. That's something I would have liked to see- that you made her so mad that she gave in to her very natural desire to punish you for your actions. It's nothing less than you deserve, you know. What a complete frak up you are, Starbuck". She laughed, not knowing she was echoing her prisoner’s own thoughts almost exactly. 

Kara kept her head down. It seemed the safest course of action. She refused to think about what might lie ahead for her this time. D’Anna smiled, patted her mockingly on the top of her head. She paced precisely away to stand with Six where they talked quietly, watching an Eight and a Two checking the stability of the structure and the restraints. 

Kara looked down at the doctor. She was almost finished. A much more professional looking bandage than the one she'd fashioned was being smoothed off under her thigh. Still she didn't speak, refused eye contact. Kara cleared her throat. 

"I'm sorry", she said, quietly. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I didn't want to, believe me. You're the only person here who's been nice to me..." She stopped, her words seeming to jam up in her throat. 

The doctor Six stilled her movements, seeking to consider her words. The furiously tight-lipped expression softened. She looked Kara directly in the face for the first time.

"Pretty much *felt like you meant to hurt me, all right", she said, a hint of amusement now in the creases of her eyes belying her words. "*Frakking fire extinguisher...". 

Kara almost cracked a grin at her tone of mock outrage. Somehow, she couldn’t help liking the doctor, feeling some mad kind of kinship with her. Kinship with a Cylon! She didn't know how, or why, or if it even meant anything at all. What she did know, however, was that she owed her an explanation. Her almost-grin faded and she spoke.

"I know that you believe that what your people are doing to mine is right and just. And that we're just too dumb and primitive to know what's best for us. That you are right, and God is on your side. But I have to ask you, firstly, how do you *know it's true? Has your God *told you that we are lesser creatures? And even if we are, you could leave us alone - you don't need to pursue us relentlessly across the galaxy. And secondly, even if it's all true, every word of it, and I do deserve every frakking thing that's happened to me, how do you justify the measures they've used? How can this torture be acceptable? How can it be okay to do the things they've done to a breathing, sentient creature?" She stopped, knowing she'd start to cry if she said another word. 

The doctor stared at her, mouth slightly open. Not breaking eye contact, she reached out slowly and took the pilot's hands in both of her own. Starbuck felt the tears welling up at the unexpected comfort. She was so unused to this, her existence now consisting solely of punishment and pain. She knew now how to bite her lip to keep herself from screaming, to fight the pain until she couldn't. She no longer knew how to deal with kindness. The tears spilled from her eyes. She wanted to wipe them away but her hands were still held tightly in front of her. 

The Cylon doctor raised a hand to her cheek, brushed her tears away gently. She looked a little like she might cry herself. Starbuck didn't know how to deal with the pitying expression she saw on the woman's face. The same face on which she was accustomed to seeing hate, anger, disgust, mockery, sadistic pleasure. She wondered sadly if she'd be punished for causing that expression, for trying to make the doctor see things from her perspective. For forcing her to examine the Cylon philosophy, and perhaps even to question the very justness and righteousness of it. She forced herself to speak, to finish her apology and her explanation. 

"So that's why I hit you. I'm sorry... I really do wish it'd been one of the others, any one of the others.. but I had to do it. I had to try and get away. The way they're going, soon I guess I won't even be able to walk, so I just had to take the chance. Because I don't believe that I deserve this, and I don't believe that this is right. I'm so tired of being hurt all the time, and I'm scared of what they're turning me into. And I miss my ship, I miss my friends... I miss my life..." She stopped with a sob. 

D’Anna looked up at the sound, saw the prisoner and the doctor locked in an intent discussion. Spoke briefly to Six, turned and began walking quickly towards them. The doctor's eyes flicked towards the sounds of her heels on the wooden boards. 

"She's coming, Starbuck", she said quietly. "Try and calm down..."

Starbuck knew she was coming alright. Knew the sound of those heels well. They were etched on her mind, they walked in her nightmares. They were a sound that always meant coming pain. She choked her tears down. 

"I'll see you, after... after... this. For what it's worth", the doctor was speaking quickly now. They were running out of time. "..I'm not sure that this is right, to do this to you. I..." 

The heels were right beside them now. Out of time. But Kara had at least heard something that gave her the very faintest glimmer of hope. Something to hold on to during what was to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone still sticking with this! I know it seems all doom and gloom right now but I'm still scene-setting my little heart out.. things will eventually get brighter I promise! 
> 
> ....Eventually.... >:)


	15. Chapter 15

"Having a nice... chat?" the Cylon's voice dripped venom and sarcasm. 

The doctor looked up. Her voice was remarkably steady. 

"Yes, sister. "We've been discussing the foolishness of trying to escape from this facility. I've been advising Starbuck that she'd do better to cooperate with us, to accept her inferior place, as it might lead to a reduction in the level of physical.. *instruction required". 

D'Anna smiled. "Excellent, doctor. She is a stubborn creature, that's for sure". She looked at Starbuck's shaking shoulders, at her red rimmed eyes and the tear tracks cutting through the dirt on her face. 

"Certainly seems like you're having an effect upon her. I may require you to join in one of her... *sessions, sometime soon". She smiled at them both, then suddenly seemed to remember the business at hand. 

"But for now, you'd better prepare your facility for her arrival this evening. I think she'll be in need of a certain degree of medical attention". She gave Starbuck a smile, a teeth-filled smile that meant pain. 

The Three clapped her hands together loudly, raising her voice, calling to the crowd. 

"Ladies and gentlemen! You've all met the illustrious Starbuck. Galactica's top gun. Do you know what that phrase means, my brothers, my sisters? It means that she's shot down more of our raiders than any other pilot in the human fleet". The crowd growled its disapproval. 

"It also means that she's probably been involved in the destruction of more of our baseships than anybody else, too. Baseships containing our people, containing people just like us. Our loyal brothers, our faithful sisters, blown to pieces, shot out of the sky. They died screaming in flames, choking in space vacuums. Starbuck did all this. Starbuck who you see before you. She might look pathetic right now, but never make the mistake of seeing her as a vulnerable innocent. She's a killer, my people. She's a dangerous trained killer and she has the blood of thousands upon thousands of our people on her hands". 

The roar of the crowd was louder now. D’Anna was an excellent public speaker, Starbuck thought dispiritedly, looking down at her hands. She had a descriptive turn of phrase, and an instinctive ability to play on their emotions, whip them up to a pinnacle of rage and hate. 

"She needs to pay for her crimes, my brothers! She needs to pay for them for the rest of her life!" The crowd roared its approval at her, pushing against the barricades. 

"So it will be!" D’Anna shouted at the top of her voice. She stood for a moment, feeling their rage like a tangible force, breaking across her like a wave. Then she turned, to where the pilot sat. She looked very small and helpless in her too-short gown, the wide white bandage encircling her upper thigh. Three forced her voice down to a lower register. Her heart was beating hard, and she felt flushed and exultant. Like she was doing what she had been born to do. All of this was part of God's divine plan.

"On your feet, Lieutenant". 

Starbuck obeyed. She was all out of defiance today. That and the fact that the woman looked as dangerous as she'd ever seen her. The Three seized her arm and raised it high, pulling Starbuck slightly up onto her tiptoes. 

"Take a good look, sisters! This is the murderer! This is the killer of your brethren!" The crowd howled its hate. The Three held her there a moment further, then dragged her to the scaffold. Her limbs were easily fastened into the hanging shackles. D’Anna pinched her viciously on the ass as her wrists were secured, pinched until she cried out and tried to twist away. 

"Crying already, Starbuck? Pity. I haven't even started yet". She ripped the cloth gown easily from the pilot's suspended body, leaving her hanging helpless and naked in full view of the expectant crowd. 

***

"I think it's time we moved to the next stage of our programme". 

Time became blurry for Kara after that. Every day she was taken to an interrogation cell and strapped into a reclining chair. Electrodes were attached variously to her fingers, to her neck, to her nipples, toes, thighs, midriff... The current could be controlled by a dial on the machine to which the electrodes were attached. Kara soon learned that the more high-pitched the noise, the higher the level of pain. The pain was excruciating; worse even than the collar. Kara also learned what she should have already known; that no and please and don't and stop were words that simply didn't work in here. The only language here was pain. 

The Three and Six conducted the operations. They were excellent teachers and Kara soon found her vocabulary increasing dramatically. She'd never known there were so many different ways to scream. 

D'Anna soon determined that the doctor had no stomach for the work; she kept interfering with the procedures, whining about checking on the prisoner's welfare. *Frak the prisoner's welfare. She soon banished her from the sessions, and after that they were able to work with no interruptions. She conscripted a lowly Eight to stand in, seconding her from her administrative duties. Her main role was to observe the prisoner during those times Six and Three were absent from the interrogation cell. They took regular breaks in the periods during which the human lapsed into unconsciousness, having passed out from the pain. God, these things were so weak. So inferior. As soon as she woke, moaning in pain even as she surfaced through the gentle haze that held her, the Eight promptly informed her sisters who returned in order to continue the interrogation. 

On one occasion, they were informed by the disapproving Eight that the prisoner had tried to initiate contact with her after it had awoken. 

"What did it say, sister?" D'Anna asked, her voice deceptively mild. 

"Sister, it looked right at me, and asked me to help it! It said 'please..', you know how they whine.. 'Please help me, please get me out of here'!" The Eight was obviously shocked and angry at the prisoner's audacity. Three smiled at her. 

"Don't worry, you did nothing wrong. Humans in general have no idea of propriety, and this one is worse than most. They'll try anything, anything at all to get what they want". She moved towards the chair where Starbuck whimpered and made a pathetic and utterly pointless attempt to pull away from her. She looked back at Eight. 

"Did you think it was disrespecting you, sister?" Still staring angrily at the helpless Starbuck, Eight moved her eyes to Three and nodded her head. 

"Okay. How would it be if you participated in today's session? Would that help you to feel that the balance was redressed somewhat? The Eight froze for a moment, before a slow grin spread over her face. 

"Sister! That's more than I could ever have hoped for! This is.. an honour!" Smiling widely, she moved from her place by the door to stand beside Six. 

The Three gave her a speculative glance as she handed her the list of today's questions. You never knew who'd be cut out for this kind of work. Some had it, some didn't. Some individuals of each model had it, and again, some didn't. She smiled, thinking of the differences in the Six model in particular.. The doctor who refused point blank to participate in any form of physical persuasion, as opposed to the Six standing with her now, whose capacity for sadistic cruelty she sometimes thought might even outstrip her own. Then, of course, there was the model who'd completed the capture- interestingly she seemed to be an intriguing blend of the two. That model she had banished for the present. Her goal being to persuade the prisoner that she didn't exist, that she was in fact the brutal Six standing before her in the cell. She thought Starbuck was halfway to believing her, although she still called out for her with annoying frequency. Anyway. The task at hand wouldn't get done by itself. Smiling, she pulled herself out of her reverie and placed her hand on the Eight's shoulder. 

"Now, sister. Allow me to introduce you to the first principles of successful interrogation". 

"Did you think I was a soft touch?" Eight asked her angrily. "Did you??" 

Strapped into the chair, Starbuck groaned and rolled her head from side to side. One stupid frakking idea of hers *that had been. 

The method was remarkably effective. The human offered minimal resistance. Twenty minutes into her first stint in the chair she was crying like a baby, begging to be allowed to tell D'Anna everything, anything she wanted to know. The Three allowed her to speak freely; this was required information after all, and essential that it be provided to the operational baseships as soon as possible. So that it could be used in operations against the humans. This was not personal, this was not part of her main mission, which was the complete demolition and rebuilding of Kara Thrace. This just had to be gotten out of the way and the information provided to number One, in order that she could continue with her main goal. 

Even though the human was talking freely, they kept up a constant low-level pulse during the sessions, increasing it when they reached critical information or when they sensed hesitation or reluctance. Outright refusal to speak had ended roughly within the first twenty minutes. A constant level of encouragement was necessary to keep the subject off balance, prevent it from having any time in which to think. Also, if all three Cylons had to be present in this dingy cell where the very walls seemed to scream out with the pain they'd absorbed, if they had to be there for the duration of this procedure, they'd damn well get enjoyment from watching Starbuck moan, from seeing her beg and plead and cry, from seeing her wrists and ankles rubbed raw each night from her straining against the unrelenting straps. It was a side benefit of doing their God-ordained duty.


End file.
